Summary: Blue and Red show up, fuck some shit up, Keith is not having a good day, and Lance is not so quietly freaking out.

Notes: Okay! So, there's a bit of a time skip here, we're finally back to the present. Poor Keith is having one hell of a day. In case there was any confusion, When they meet Lance is almost 12, and Keith is 14. Now we've skipped a few years and Lance is seventeen, while Keith is nineteen and the wedding is only another year off.

"Lance?" Keith called out worriedly. They had gone down to the beach and he'd taken his eyes off the prince for just a tick. Apparently, the one tick was all it had taken for him to lose the now seventeen period old child that was his betrothed. He was probably flirting with someone, and Keith really didn't like watching Lance flirt, but he liked the idea of not knowing where the taller boy even was less. It irked him that even after their first growth spurt Lance was still taller than him. The smug bastard still held it over his head too. Keith was already nineteen, it wasn't fair that he was still shorter. Before he could get even angrier at the prince's disappearing act though, he spotted him by the water, chatting up a group of two girls and a guy. All three were attractive, And that was really all they had to be to catch the prince's eye. When he had suggested Lance play around when they were younger, he hadn't anticipated quite the monster that would unleash. If he had known then what he did now, he never would have offered that out. Especially since Lance's flirting was absolutely horrible. Keith was sure that the only reason he ever got anywhere with half the people he flirted with was because he was the prince. Okay, and his looks didn't hurt his chances any either. You don't turn down a date with attractive royalty after all. Keith walked over to the group, stood right behind Lance, his hands on his hips, a frown on his lips, and murder in his eyes.

"I thought , we were on a date Lance." He growled out. Lance stiffened at Keith's tone. "I turn my back for a single tick and you run off? We only go out twice a month Lance! Can't you control yourself at least a little?" Lance turned back to face him, a hand scratching at the back of his head as he laughed nervously.

"Sorry Keith. I saw Isa over here with these two beautiful ladies and well, you know how much I love blonde hair." Lance had that pouty look in his eye again, and it really shouldn't affect Keith like it did, especially when he as trying to be angry with him. He sighed.

"Yeah, I do know. Blonde hair, muscles everywhere, long legs. How can I possibly expect you to hold back." His tone was bland and his stare was flat but he pushed on regardless; "But I am your Fiancé Lance, and this is date day, so don't you think you should be showing a little more respect to me? You can flirt with Isa tomorrow, when I don't have to watch."

"Pft, you'll end up watching anyway, you always do. You're paranoid."

"And you, are too trusting! You don't know these people, someone could wish you ill!"

"No one would wish me ill, Keith, I'm the prince. Everyone loves me."

"Ah, I'm sorry, but, did I do something wrong?" Isa, the man Lance had previously been chatting up, decided to speak out. Keith looked around Lance and glared at him harder.

"Yes, you are enticing my Fiancé, stop it."

"It's an arranged marriage Keith, stop acting like I'm cheating on you. You said I could play around all I wanted before the wedding."

"I did, and I have regretted it ever since the words left mouth. It was like opening Pandora's box and losing the lid." Lance glared at him for that and brought his arm up at his side. "Lance." Keith warned him, he knew what the prince was doing, and did not like it.

"You seem like you're burning up a little Prince Keith, allow me to help you," He swung his arm gracefully in front of him, and along with it came a great splashing wave of cold seawater. "Cool off." He finished as he brought his hand back down and to his hip, snickering obnoxiously. All Prata Neptunians could manipulate the water of their planet, it was one of the reasons why Zarkon had left it alone. It was too much trouble to attack their home planet. But Lance was stronger than average, and had much more control over the element. This wasn't new to him, but he always seemed to forget just how formidable an opponent Lance could be when he put his mind to it. The royal family was known to be the best at water manipulation, and Lance definitely lived up to that. Even in the long line of royals before him, Lance was a prodigy, and while Keith usually respected that, even admired his abilities, it was times like these that he really hated them.

"So it's going to be like that, huh?" Keith grumbled irritably. The two girls behind Lance gasped as Keith shook the water from his exposed fur, and he could sense Isa backing up with every step he stalked forward towards Lance. "Just remember little prince , you started this." Were the only words he whispered into Lance's ear once he was close enough. He didn't miss the slight quake that ripped through the prince at his chiding. Keith may have been shorter, may have been water manipulation inept, but he was Galren. Which made him physically stronger than the very near feather light prince. He picked Lance up easily, grabbing him by the Left arm and leg, and threw him the short distance from where they were standing on the sandy beach, into the water. The waves were erratic as Lance waved his arms around in a panic. It was something he had noticed very early on after moving to Prata Neptunia, they were all built like fish. Light bones, sharp teeth, large colorful eyes, and three small, very sensitive, almost unnoticeable slits on either sides of their neck that acted as gills while underwater, but closed while they were on land. Lance soared through the air and landed in the water with a large splash. As it stood, his panicking was only making the waves more turbulent. He smirked and then turned back to the small group behind him; "Anyone else interested in going for a swim?" He may have been smiling, but his eyes were challenging. The three troublemakers all shook their heads and ran off. Good riddance. By the time Lance made it back to the beach Isa and the girls were long gone.

"What did you do that for?" Lance groused as he flicked the water off of himself and, pointedly, at Keith. Keith simply brought his arm up to shield his face, but left it at that, it was just water and he was already soaked.

"Why did you feel the need to ditch me on our date to flirt with a random stranger?" Keith countered. It hadn't been this bad before, but as the days started to count down to the wedding, Lance had began to fool around a bit more often. They only had a period left. He knew Lance was just worried, scared of settling down so early. It was sort of an odd fear if Keith were to be honest with himself, he couldn't really wrap his head around the idea. Scared of commitment, scared of missing out on who else was out there. It didn't make sense. The Galra mated once, to one person, and they stayed faithful to that mate no matter what. But Lance's people were different. They were very open and if things didn't work out, they shrugged it off and went in search of someone else. They got married later in life, when their sex drive wasn't quite so high, and even then, if both parties agreed, Lance had once told him that they could invite other people to join them and that that was considered both acceptable, but also normal. The idea of sharing his lover with anyone would be an impossibility for any Galra. They were too possessive, protective, and aggressive towards anyone who even thought about possibly making a move on their mate in any way. Lance sighed, stroking gently at the gills on the left side of his neck with the pads of his fingers before answering.

"I'm sorry, you're right, I shouldn't have run off like that." Lance lowered his eyes, his voice apologetic. And Keith knew that he couldn't stay mad at him, right then and there. He was weak to Lance, he knew that, had known it since they had first visited Galra six periods ago. Keith let his shoulders relax and walked the rest of the way over to Lance to rest his palm against Lance's hand, stilling it against his neck.

"I am sorry too, for being so aggressive about it. I could have handled that better, but I was rather jealous that you would pick someone else over me while we were supposed to be on a date." He spoke quieter and bent to look Lance in the eye. "Can you forgive me for throwing you into the water like that?" Lance just chuckled and surged forth, wrapping his arms around Keith's neck and bringing him into a big hug.

"I already have. It was called for, I was being a jerk." He nuzzled into Keith's chest and inhaled deeply, taking in the salty scent of the ocean and heady musk that he had come to associate with being exclusively Keith. "And, I am sorry for splashing you too."

"It is fine, do not fret. It was just water." Keith answered, reciprocating the hug, his arms winding around Lance's middle.

"But you don't like being wet."

"No, but I would rather be wet than keep fighting with you over stupid things."

"Then how about we pick back up where we left off on this date?"

"What did you have in mind then?"

"I want to show you the rest of the city, it's been six periods and you've still never ventured beneath the waves!"

"That would be because, unlike you my love, I can not breathe under water." Keith chuckled, tapping Lance's nose teasingly. He wished he could act like this with Lance on Galra too, but this sort of affection on his planet was reserved solely for behind closed doors.

"Which is why, I have been working on a new technique, in secret. To surprise you."

"What sort of technique?" Lance took a step back and flicked his wrist, pulling all of the water out of Keith's clothes and fur before gesturing towards the waves.

"Why don't I show you? I didn't want to tell you until I had it perfect and could do it effortlessly, and after a period and a half, I think I've got it down pretty well, to the point where I can sustain it for tocks even!" That was pretty impressive, whatever this new technique was, Keith could tell that Lance had put a lot of time into it. Just for him, it was endearing. Keith decided to humor him and followed Lance to the edge of the water,

"Now what?" He asked, he really didn't want to get wet again so soon if he could avoid it. Lance made a few small gestures with his left hand though and the waves parted. Then, with his right hand, he cupped his hand and rotated his wrist a few times in a circular motion. Soon, just at the end of the parted waves, where he could see the sea floor start to dip, the water splashed up and made a sort of domed entrance to the depths below. Keith was stunned. "What exactly is it that you were practicing?" he asked carefully as he began to follow Lance towards the dome.

"Air pockets." He smiled happily. "I've been working on making large enough air pockets so that I could take you down into the city proper. Large enough to cover both of us, so that you can breathe and so that the water pressure doesn't affect you." Lance excitedly pulled at Keith's arm to tug him towards the water, once inside the dome the water crashed back down behind them and, as they walked, the bubble of air seemed to follow with them. Lance didn't have to make a grand gesture to call the water to do as he wished, but he did most of the time just because he enjoyed making a show out of it. This time, however, Lance kept his movements small and precise, only moving his wrist as much as strictly necessary to keep the pocket in tact. The waters were a crystal clear turquoise and Keith marveled at how he could see everything so clearly.

"This is amazing Lance." He breathed as he reached out to drag a few clawed fingers along the wall of water next to him as they walked, finding the ripples intriguing. Lance grinned over to him, basking in the praise.

"It is, isn't it?"

Keith liked seeing Lance smile like that, wished he could see him always smile like he had no worries at all. "So, what are you going to show me first?" Keith smiled, getting easily swept up in Lance's giddy emotions.

"The temples sound like a good place to start, I should introduce you to our Gods."

"Very well, which Gods should I be prepared to meet?" Keith had heard a great deal about these gods from Lance, frequently when he could not locate the other prince it would turn out that he had snuck out to visit the temples. Occasionally, when he was younger, even coming back with a few injuries that Lance would refuse to speak of. It worried Keith to no end, but Lance would insist that it was his own fault and that he should not worry about it. Not that that helped any, but without gills he couldn't follow Lance and know for sure. When he had voiced his concerns with Lance's mother, she had just told him that it was a norm by now, and that it really was nothing to worry about. That had worried him more, but he decided it was best not to argue with the queen. If Lance's own mother was not worried, then he probably should try to push it to the back of his mind. Thinking about how he could finally see these temples himself, those thoughts began to surface once more. "Does this mean you will finally tell me how you got those bruises that you used to come back with when you claimed you were visiting these temples?" Lance's smile stayed in place but his eyes seemed to show a sliver of hesitation.

"Are you actually still worried about that?" He asked carefully, trying to shrug it off with a flippant chuckle. Keith released a labored sigh and shook his head.

"You can say it was nothing all you want, but I will not believe it. You were pretty beat up a few times, which was odd since people on this planet are adverse to violence." Lance sighed.

"Alright. We'll visit Lady Eurybia first then." Keith didn't fail to notice the way Lance's shoulders seemed to tense at the change of conversation topic. Deciding to remedy Lance's discomfort at least a little, he stepped up closer and ran his hand up and down along the other prince's spine in a way that he knew Lance enjoyed. His claws occasionally scratching lightly against the thin fabric of Lance's robes. Lance took a deep breath and stopped suddenly, turning to face Keith, an appreciative smile on his lips he he leaned forward and kissed him chastely. "I promise to explain once we get there, okay?" he whispered it directly against Keith's lips and Keith almost forgot what he was referring to with how warm he felt with Lance so close. Almost.

"I will hold you to that then." Keith smirked, leaning forward and giving Lance a quick peck of his own before gesturing for him to continue leading the way. Keith looked out through the walls of the bubble and took in the impressive stone buildings that were off in the distance. "Is that the city?" he asked distractedly.

"Yeah, it's the rest of Maritimus. Downtown if you will. Or, at least, all the fun parts of it anyway. Love hotels, clubs, bars, arcades, cafes, you name it, it is probably in that part of the city." Keith supposed that would be what Lance considered fun, but since he wasn't able to breathe under the water without Lance's help, he supposed all of those things would have to wait until they were on a different planet if they wished to enjoy them together. Maybe he would look into which planets were similar for after the wedding, to surprise Lance.

The walk to the temples was long, and while Keith did enjoy the ever consistent scenery, he was starting to wish he could swim, if for no other reason than to spare his aching feet the walk back. Not to mention that he was starting to become a little peckish.

"Hey Lance, do you think maybe we could catch a fish or something, I'm getting a little hungry. We didn't eat anything before this impromptu trek." Keith wasn't really one for complaining, but, since it was just the two of them, he felt a little more okay with it.

"Hmm, oh, there's something we can eat!" Lance replied as he looked around before guiding them towards a boulder and a patch of underwater grass. Lance left Keith at the boulder and walked out of the air bubble and over to the small patch, bending down and harvesting some of the weed. When he came back, Keith noticed that it was ligmint root that Lance had found and instantly felt his hunger vanish if that was all he was going to be offered. Prata Neptunia had several different kinds of food, most of which were too heavily salted in his opinion. Which was something that took Keith almost two periods to voice, and was easily fixed, but the worst thing he had ever encountered was ligmint root. It was bland, and slimy, and tasted completely of sea water. Even when dried. He honestly could not understand why Lance liked it so much, but the other boy did, ate it like it was candy sometimes.

"I am not eating that."

"Oh come on Keith, ligmint root is good, and it's full of healthy nutrients!" to prove his point Lance put one half way in his mouth and gave a pleased moan before offering one over to Keith. Keith simply gave him the most unimpressed look he could muster and reached out to grab the first fish that swam by, catching it easily, and taking a bite out of it raw and still alive, holding the still floundering carcass out to Lance in much the same fashion. Lance grimaced and tongued the rest of the leaf into his mouth before swallowing it after a moment of chewing.

"Keith, that fish is raw and alive still …"

"And yet, it tastes a hundred times better than that stupid weed."

"Agree to disagree." He paused, glancing back down at the offered fish. "No, I'm good, you can have the whole thing to yourself." Lance pushed lightly at Keith's outstretched hand, avoiding touching the fish as best he could.

"What's wrong, you eat raw fish all the time." Keith teased.

"Yes, but when I eat it, it does not still have a face, or move on its own, and all the blood is cleaned off." Keith just shrugged at Lance's reply and brought the fish to him mouth again and took another bite.

"Adds flavor." he stated simply. Lance shook his head and went back to eating his slimy plant.

"Keith, I love you, but that is disgusting." Lance could feel his stomach churn in discomfort as he glanced over and watched Keith continue to munch away at the by now very much dead fish. "The scales can't taste good either." he added as an afterthought. Keith merely shrugged, making sure to eat the whole thing, picking the bones clean before he set the last one in the pile he had started forming on the boulder next to him. He reached out and cleaned his hands in the water outside the bubble, and then wiped his face down as well.

"Any more blood on me?" He asked as he turned back to face lance, his pile of putrid grass dwindling down to only three pieces in the time it had taken Keith to eat his fish. Lance sighed and licked his thumb and began preening him the way Keith was used to watching Lance's mother fuss over him. Before Keith could push Lance away though he saw two red and blue flashes come from over near where the city was.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Lance asked turning to follow Keith's line of vision.

"I saw something shoot towards the city."

"Then the temples will have to wait, let's go check it out." Lance dropped the last of the ligmint root from his hands and moved so that he was standing in front of Keith. "Wrap your arms around my neck, but be careful of my gills, it'll be faster if we swim." He looked back and gave an apologetic smile. "I know you don't like to get wet, but we don't know what you saw, and it could be dangerous, we need to get over there as quickly as possible." Keith nodded, he understood, stepping forward he wrapped his arms around Lance's neck, making sure his grip wasn't obstructing Lance's gills and then suddenly, the bubble was gone and they were shooting through the water. Lance was fast. He had never known the other prince could move like this in the water. As soon as the water pressure had settled on them Keith had noticed the space between Lance's fingers was now filled with a thin membrane that let the prince pull them through the water easily, his legs together acting as a tail to propel them forward. Before Keith even had time to think about how long he had been holding his breath and if he needed air soon or not, they were at the city's edge. The lights that Keith had seen had been two very large red and blue mechanical lions, both with a particle barrier up in their respective colors. Lance swam up to one of the buildings and shoved Keith inside, following just a tick after, the water draining below them and then another, secondary door hissing open behind them. Lance pulled the water from their clothes and ushered him into what appeared to be a bar. Keith stepped in, still reeling slightly from moving so fast through the water, but quickly got his bearings as he walked over to the window that was facing the lions.

"What are those things? What are they doing here?" Came a panicked voice running up to them. "Is it Galra?"

"No, that's not Galran, I don't know what it is, but I can promise that much for certain." Keith spoke up, his focus turning from the looming machines to the small crowd now swarming Lance.

"I will go check it out, but I need some of you to go check the area, make sure no one is hurt, and get everyone inside. We don't know if these machines are friend or foe and I don't want anyone getting caught in it's way if it turns out to be the latter." Lance ordered.

"Of course my prince!" a few beefier guys at the back of the bar saluted and exited the through the door to do as Lance had instructed.

"The rest of you stay here and don't leave until I figure out what's going on, alright?" Lance turned to go back outside and Keith caught his arm just before he reached for the first door.

"You are not going out there alone."

"You can't breathe out there, you are not coming with me Keith." Lance's tone was final, but Keith was just as hard headed as his betrothed and he had a gut feeling the other boy would need him for this.

"And I don't care what you say, you are not stepping foot outside this building unless I am by your side." Keith demanded, adamant that he was not to lose this argument. He and lance stared at each other heatedly for quite some time before Lance sighed and looked away.

"Fine. I'll make you an air bubble, you inspect the red one while I check out the blue one." Keith nodded and stepped out with Lance as he opened the door, making sure it was shut tight before opening the second door back out into the open water. He made a mental note as Lance made a small air bubble around his head easily to ask later if all the buildings down here had drain chambers like that or if that bar was just special for some reason. He watched with rapt attention as Lance swam up to the head of the blue lion, touched the blue particle barrier and was just as shocked as Lance seemed to be when the glowing force field shattered under his touch. Lance had shot back instantly to a safe distance, but then just as quickly swam all the way up and touched the beast's nose. It's eyes began to glow and then before Keith could even register what had happened, before the scream to watch out could even be ripped from his throat, the lion's large mouth swooped in and engulfed Lance's body whole and the barrier went right back up. Keith felt numb as he sunk to his knees, the shock too great for him to even know how to handle what he had just witnessed. He felt empty, his blood running cold and his heart plummeting from his chest straight to the soles of his feet. No sounds or tears, just his mouth hanging open and his eyes wider than saucers. This wasn't real. Lance had to be alright. He hadn't just watched his fiancé get eaten alive by a giant metal cat. That wasn't what just happened. He had to be okay. He turned his firely glare onto the red lion next to him and punched the barrier.

"What just happened to him?!" He demanded. "Tell me he's okay!" his assault was slowed in the water, but he still felt it's regular power when he made contact with the red force field. It didn't even occur to him while he pounded away at the obstruction in his way that if Lance were truly dead, the air bubble keeping him from drowning should have dissolved as well. Just as suddenly as the blue lion's the red lion's barrier went down and Keith found himself submitting to the same fate as he watched the Red lion's eyes blink to life and it's head bend down to snatch him up just as the blue one had done to Lance. But unlike what he expected, inside the lion's mouth was dry and he was in one piece, still very much alive. Which, meant that Lance was still alive. He had to be. Keith scrambled to his feet and bounded up the small little ramp at the back of the lion's throat, and climbed the small ladder to poke his head into what looked to be a cockpit. These things were ships? But if that were true, then there was the potential that they could contact each other. Keith climbed up the rest of the way into the cockpit and up to the control panel, he felt a deep rumbling in the back of his mind that he really didn't recognize, but it seemed to be telling him how to hail the blue lion, so he followed the urging sensation and called out hesitantly.

"Lance? Lance please answer me! Lance, are you okay?" He didn't want to admit how much he was panicking right now. This was quite possibly the most terrifying thing he had ever encountered. None of the coming of age trials back on Galra had anything on the terror that gripped his heart in the excruciatingly long ticks it took for Lance to respond, but when he did he felt relief wash through him like a title wave. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he heard Lance's voice say his name through the speakers on the dash in front of him, he staggered back and sagged down into the pilot's chair behind him.

"Keith?"

Keith cursed crassly in relief, a shaky chuckle escaping past his lips. "You're alive. Thank the gods." Keith brought his hand up to rub at his face, trying to get his breathing and heart rate back under control.

"Yeah, I'm fine, a little shaken, but otherwise, fine."

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" He knew it wasn't Lance's fault, but he couldn't help snapping at him anyway. Lance was quiet on the other side of the comms and Keith almost felt like he should take those words back, but then he remembered just how helpless and weak he felt when he thought Lance had died and he never wanted to feel like that again. He took a breath to calm himself.

"How do you think these ships go here without a pilot?" Keith asked finally, not seeing any signs of any other life anywhere in the ship other than himself. Lance hummed on the other end.

"Maybe they flew themselves here?"

"Lance, be realistic."

"I am, they moved on their own didn't they? And since I've been inside it, the blue lion has been feeding her thoughts into my mind." It sounded crazy, but then, the red lion had seemed to do that same when he had wanted to talk to Lance. "Since you're contacting me like this, I assume you're inside the red lion, you can feel it too can't you? That rumble just behind your consciousness, and somehow you already know what it means."

"Yeah." Keith answered carefully, magic sentient robot lions didn't sit too well with him. If these two were real, that would mean his father's fervent hunt for the black one might not be as crazy of an endeavor as he had originally thought it to be. Before he could give it much more thought though, images were racing through his mind; a white and blue castle, a tall, tan woman with white cascading hair barking orders, Galra battle cruisers firing at the castle that seemed to be floating in space, so Keith could only assume it was a large ship of some sort. And then finally, it showed three other lions; yellow, green, and black, along with the blue and red one, all coming together and creating a larger still robotic being. A wave of power and awe washing through him with the last image, as if the red lion were telling him he should be impressed. A single word coming to mind after the images faded away, both he and Lance speaking it aloud as one; "Voltron."

"I thought it was a myth." Lance's voice was quiet, as if he weren't sure he wanted to believe his eyes.

"You saw it too?" Keith asked, just as jarred.

"As clear as day."

"You realize this means that my father is not actually going crazy, right?" Keith found his voice first, "We should find a way out of these lions as fast as we can." He urged hastily. When Lance agreed though, Keith felt the red lion start to move, and through his view screens that were lighting up, he saw the blue lion do the same. The lions were getting ready to take off, with Keith and Lance still trapped inside them. This was not good. Not at all.

"Keith, I can't make it land, what do I do?" Lance panicked. It sounded like he was frantically trying to press every button combination he could think of on his dashboard.

"Well for starters, stop button mashing, that could make things worse, we don't know what any of these controls do just yet." Keith was trying to stay calm. He really, truly was. He was positive that Lance was freaking out enough for the both of them, and one of them not thinking clearly was more than enough for the situation. Rather than going straight up though, it seemed that the lions were going away from the city and back the way Lance and Keith had originally come from, and when neither Lance or Keith could see Maritimus any longer, they began to ascend through Prata Neptunia's waters and into the atmosphere, the force alone slamming Keith back against the pilot's seat. And then, Lance was freaking out again as a very large, blue wormhole opened up in front of them, Keith could hear the other prince fighting against hyperventilating and he wanted nothing more than to be there next to him, holding Lance's head against his neck and stroking his back, reassuring him that everything would be fine, and that as long as they stayed together they would be alright. He wanted to hold Lance tight and never let go.

Notes: Well this chapter was a lot of fun to write and the only thing that kept popping up was "Poor Keith, he was not prepared to deal with this shit today."