Chapter 4 – Setting our sights on the stars

"Woah! Is it an ancient computer that I see on your desk?!" Pidge exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as if she were looking at the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Yeah, but it crashed down," Lance admitted with a shrug, earning a glare from his friend who caressed the big squared screen as if it was a fragile puppy that Lance had brutalized. The man rolled his eyes and watched as Hunk entered the room and sat on the floor near the bed, Lance's phone in his hands, carrying it like a baby animal in distress.

"You can sit on the bed, you know," the ex-blue paladin said with a soft, amused smile.

"We don't know what you do when you're in your bed," the girl with glasses snickered, sitting backwards on the desk chair and rolling across the room.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man immediately cut her, pretending to be offended and disgusted.

His voice must not have sounded convincing enough, because Hunk cut the conversation with a nervous laugh. "The floor is good enough." He quickly looked back at the device and took a screwdriver out of his pocket, trying to forget what he had just heard.

"Hunk, can I borrow your tools? I feel like a bit of improvement wouldn't hurt this poor boy," the girl asked, pointing at the computer behind her, when the yellow paladin had exposed all his tools in a perfect line in front of him.

"Sure!"

Lance looked at them, then at the photos on his wall. It was awkward to have them with him, it still seemed so surreal to him, and he happened to miss Pidge and Hunk while they were in the same room as him. Although, he didn't feel like anything had changed between them –or at least he hoped so.

"Lance, stop thinking so much, you're going to have a headache!" Pidge teased him with a smirk, hanging upside down on the chair to reach the computer tower.

Her voice brought him back to reality and he shook his head. His bedroom was now a big mess – well, to be fair it was just slightly messier than it usually was -, and the floor was covered in electronic pieces, tools, plastic and metallic threads, and micro screws he was sure to walk on when he'd have to climb into bed later. Moving in there was now more dangerous than a LEGO minefield.

"What have you planned to do, now?" Hunk asked the other two, eyes locked on the phone he was still tinkering in. "I mean, I hate to say this but to go back to the Galaxy Garrison would be boring and I don't picture myself as a waiter or anything – no offense to Gabriel, though," he added, glancing at Lance.

The latter was quick to reply, more genuine than he had ever been. "You'd make the best cook ever. And I'd love to have my best friend owning a restaurant. Wait… You wouldn't make me pay for the meal, right?... Hunk?!"

"No! You're my friend…"

"You would pay double." Pidge finished with an evil smirk.

"But seriously, I mean it, you should become a cook or something," Lance spoke again, looking straight into Hunk's eyes. "What about you, Pidge? Any idea?"

"I'm not sure," the girl faltered with a shrug, tapping her chin in a thoughtful manner and frowning in concentration. "I'm interested in nanotechnologies, but I feel like it would be boring. I mean, after Voltron, everything feels boring, right? Game development could be entertaining, though…"

Lance tilted his head, narrowing his eyes in incomprehension. "Why don't you travel with Coran? He knows so many things about alien technologies, and back there you looked like you could spend your life studying them, like a space-archaeologist specialized in technologies?"

Hunk raised his brows and observed Pidge, whose eyes widened so much they suddenly seemed to fill her whole face.

"That's… the best idea ever… I would never have thought of that!" she screamed, jumping from the chair to Lance's arms. "I was focused on living on Earth, but you're so right! Thank you so much, Lance! I owe you one!"

The green paladin was almost weeping with joy, her arms around her friend's neck and her face buried in his shirt.

"Woah, there!" Lance exclaimed, laughing and wrapping his arms around her back. "Be sure to send us photos!"

The atmosphere was so light that the three of them felt like they could laugh at the tiniest, lamest joke.

"So, that leaves you, Lance." Hunk noticed with a warm smile while Pidge was slowly going back to the computer.

"No idea… But I guess you'll need a waiter in your new establishment," the sharpshooter laughed.

"Is there anything that you love, other than space travelling and shooting the Galra?" Pidge asked, turning her chin toward the ex-blue paladin to show him she was listening, her eyes still locked on the computer she was carefully dissecting.

"I don't know, really… Maybe something related to water, then," he shrugged. "But I don't picture myself in school anymore."

Lance let out a brief sigh and quickly took his carefree attitude back. He glanced at Pidge, who didn't seem to have noticed his despondent tone, and then at Hunk who was staring at him, seemingly worried. The yellow paladin waited for his friend to explain but after a few minutes he knew he wouldn't get any answer. Hunk gave Lance a slight smile, letting him know that he would be there for him, and after a few minutes, a victorious shout escaped his lips.

"It works!" Hunk yelled, holding the phone up in the air like a precious treasure.

Pidge hummed The Legend of Zelda's chest opening sound and then she screamed as loud as her friend, turning on the computer which now made a cute purring. "I made it! It's aliiive!"

"I'm scared!" Lance shouted too, bursting out laughing. He gazed at his phone, eyes sparkling with hope, and took it as carefully as he would have done with a new-born. The demon turned on in his hands and it vibrated for several minutes after Lance had unlocked it and entered his code.

"I didn't know I was so popular," he laughed, but his smile fell when he looked at some embarrassing messages he had received.

Buddy: 'Um, buddy. This was with my stuffs, and I don't think it's mine…' to which was attached a picture showing boxer shorts on which it was written "Don't need a permit for this gun".

Lance glanced at Hunk and swallowed, his face already red. He scrolled through the other many messages he had received, feeling his cheeks burn more and more.

Gremlin: 'Is this what I think it is? TELL ME IT IS! read Pidge's message, following a picture of a dark blue shark-shaped piece of fabric.'

The sharpshooter eyed his little friend, his heart racing in his chest, and shivered while scrolling again.

Gremlin: 'A blessed image from Shiro!' . The attached picture was a bit blurred, but Lance would have recognized this mullet anywhere in the whole universe, even in the middle of a mullet-heads crowd. His gaze lingered on the picture several seconds too long, printing Keith's flushed angry face and his braided strands of hair into Lance's mind.

He shook his head, earning curious looks from his two friends who had been observing the scene in silence from the beginning, and carried on.

Princess: 'We have found something that might belong to you in your room, it's a notebook. There are dates and things written under them, Keith told us that it was called a "diary" and that it was common on Earth for little girls? I think this was a joke, because he laughed after that… Do you want us to keep it somewhere until you get it back?'

"I'm going to kill him…" Lance swore between his teeth, already imagining himself making Keith regret his existence.

"Kill who?" Pidge innocently inquired, but her friend didn't bother to answer. She watched him freeze slowly, his hand tightening its grip on the phone. "Lance, is everything all right?" she asked again, frowning.

When Blue's pilot didn't answer, both his friends leant closer to him to shoot a look at his screen.

Annoying Mullet: 'Hey, Lance. You okay?'

Annoying Mullet: 'Lance, I need to be sure you're fine. Please, answer me.'

The crowded place was definitely making Keith feel uncomfortable. Allura and Shiro were walking before him, so close that their arms almost touched, and the red paladin rolled his eyes at this sight. The princess and the black paladin weren't going out yet, but it was so obvious to everyone that they loved each other that it was a pain to be around them every dobosh of the day and night.

Keith gritted his teeth and forced the pace, carefully avoiding to touch any of the many aliens around them. They were of many species, and without realising it, Keith was quickly glancing at each one of them, subconsciously trying to catch a glimpse of hair, of skin that would seem oddly familiar to the half-Galra orphan. They had been walking in the space harbour for vargas, now, and it was getting more boring and less entertaining with each tick.

Keith took a quick look at his phone again, which remained painfully silent, and he ragingly stuffed it back into his pocket. He was so stupid! Why would Lance have replied, anyway?!

Red's pilot stopped and sucked in a deep breath, eyes shut and his jaw closed so tight that he was sure his teeth would be damaged by the end of the day if he didn't relieve the pressure. When he opened his eyelids again, Allura and Shiro had disappeared from his eyesight, and Keith swore under his breath, turning round to look for his friends. He had decided to go back to the Castle when silver hair caught his attention. Allura was laughing, one hand politely covering her mouth and her cheeks pink, while Shiro was gesturing to something behind the shop window. The red paladin watched as they entered the shop. Above the door was a big panel on which it was written "Le Nid de Pie", and Keith frowned at the words, not recognizing them although they used the roman alphabet. And why would a space shop have a name written in a human language? Were the aliens really this interested in humans? Did they abduct them, as they did in movies?

Shiro came out of the shop, smiling, and beside him Allura had her hand resting gently on his arm. On his robotic Galra arm.

Of course, aliens abducted humans, Keith thought. And Shiro surely hadn't been the only one, hence the human name of the shop.

Suddenly, the red paladin felt the urge to go back to the Castle and fly away from the space harbour, a cold shiver running down his spine. He quickly joined his two friends, trying to ignore their proximity and the ache that it caused in his chest, and looked closely at Allura's neck. She was wearing a thin chain on which was hanging a silver ring. In the centre of the ring was a round bead full of lavender liquid, as thick as lava yet as fluid as oil and as translucent as water. In the middle of the lavender drop, a pearl white light was pulsing rhythmically. Dum-dum, dum-dum. The rhythm reminded Keith of something. Dum-dum, dum-dum… The truth came to his mind as a jolt and he bit his tongue a bit too violently: in the glass drop pulsed a light which was following a heartbeat pace.

"What is this?" the red paladin asked, pointing at the jewel with an interrogative look on his face.

"Oh, this?" Allura feigned ignorance although she was blushing heavily. "We call this a Rathe Spular, it's made from cosmic dust and it rotates depending on… a specific magnetism… causing the sparkles you can see."

Keith narrowed his eyes at her hesitation and noticed how Shiro discreetly shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"What specific magnetism, exactly?" the younger paladin asked again, already suspecting the answer.

"The rotation is based on a heartbeat."

Shiro looked away and Allura's face heated up even more. They didn't need to say more, Keith had guessed where it led them. The way back to the ship was filled with an awkward silence. Keith didn't know what to say – he didn't even know what he was feeling anymore, as if his emotions had shut down. Walking before him again, Allura and Shiro were acting strangely, gravitating around each other without touching, as if a physics force was both attracting and repelling them at the same time, as if the universe wanted them to be together when they didn't allow themselves to.

Soon, they arrived at the anchor point of the ship, or at least at the place where it was supposed to be. The three of them froze, and they turned round to check if they had taken the right path. A loud mooing came from the edge of the bridge and Keith was running before he had even realised what was happening.

"This is our cow! Step back or I'll make you-" His voice shut down when he saw Coran lying on the floor in the middle of a pool of blood which was soaking through his Altean clothes. "Coran?! Coran, what happened?!" Keith yelled, walking around the older man without daring to approach him. A storm of white curls passed in front of the paladin and Allura kneeled in the red puddle, tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Don't worry, Coran, we're here. Just rest," she tried to reassure him, her hands glowing blue as she scanned his injured body. She let out a huge sigh of relief when the inspection was over, and looked at her friend, tears glowing in her beautiful eyes. He was out of danger, seemingly exhausted, and he had a stab wound going through his side, but fortunately no organ was damaged.

"I'm sorry, princess," the ginger haired man croaked with difficulty. "It was my duty to protect the Castle, and I failed… again. Your father…"

"He would be proud of you, Coran," she assured him, her hands shaking on his arm. "Now be quiet, we'll take it from here. Thank you so much for all that you do. Now, I ask you not to worry about anything anymore, can you do this for me?"

The Altean man nodded and closed his eyes in pain, sliding his right hand on his body so that it covered part of his wound.

Meanwhile, Keith was gritting his teeth, watching a man who had Kaltenecker's leash in hand. The alien guy looked like an earthling, save for the big rat tail that was waving slowly on the floor behind him.

"Get your hands off our cow, I won't say it again," the red paladin threatened the guy between his teeth. When the alien didn't move, Keith reached for his bayard and the sword took its place into his palm, reassuring him by its familiar weight.

"W-Where were you keeping this?!" the thief stammered, staring at Keith's weapon and asking the only logical question. He dropped the rope when the paladin shot him a merciless glare and ran away in the opposite direction, almost tripping on his own feet and tail.

Keith let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and grabbed the leash, absentmindedly petting the cow's neck. On Kaltenecker's back were standing the mice, shaking and huddling together in an attempt to reassure themselves.

"We have to find a safe place to rest, and Coran requires some medical cares", Allura stated, holding the man in her arms, standing strong and determined. Shiro was staring at her, an odd kind of mixed fascination and astonishment painted on his face.

"Let me carry him", the black paladin offered but Allura refused immediately. He sighed and Keith pulled lightly on Kaltenecker's leash, demanding the cow to follow them.

They wandered off in the streets, earning weird glares from the bystanders, and Keith pictured himself punching them all, too much stress and tension flowing through his veins. He looked down, thinking about their situation while he walked.

First, Coran was hurt, and he needed cares. Fortunately, Allura had said he would be fine and only had been stabbed in the side, the man had already known more serious wounds. Second, the Castle had disappeared, and Coran was the only one to know what had happened. Considering they were all out of the ship and stuck in the space harbour, the Castle of Lions had most likely been stolen. Third… quiznak!

"We really need to get the Castle back," the red paladin whispered in a hurry, an alarmed look on his face. "The Lions are still in there!"

Some people were staring at them, and Keith quickly shut up, biting his tongue out of frustration. He swallowed audibly and forced his pace. All he wanted was to find a place where they could be alone and sort this whole situation out.

It turned out that finding a room for four people to sleep, plus a cow and four mice wasn't as easy as it seemed to be, even for the Princess of Altea and all the money and fame she carried with her. Discouragement was starting to get through them when Allura decided to try one last time. She headed to an old-looking motel, the kind of places where blood stained carpets was a common thing and where the sleeping man she was carrying in her arms wouldn't bring them too much attention. Shiro politely held the door for them to enter, followed by Keith and the animals he was still leading, a distrustful look on his face.

"We would need a room for the night, the biggest room you have would be the best option, but we can do with whatever you can offer," the princess begged after having introduced herself in a very Daenerys-ish way.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's no room left," the receptionist said, not even pretending to care a bit and already looking back to his register. The male alien was tall and his greasy skin which stained everything with a thin film of glossy mucus was partially covered with green sandy scales. Tentacles were moving in his back, like tiny featherless and boneless wings, and on top of his head was a tuft of bright yellow bird down. Just looking at him could have made people blind, or at best they went with an epileptic seizure.

The princess took a deep breath and stepped to Shiro, eyelids closed as if she was struggling to keep her calm facade.

"Can you hold Coran for me, please?" she asked, her voice sounding like a threatening storm.

The paladin nodded and quickly obeyed. He helped the Altean man who had just woken up to stand up, putting an arm around his waist and offering Coran a grip around his shoulders. Despite the ginger haired man being almost as tall as him, Shiro had no difficulty supporting him: he was such a featherweight in spite of his muscular body.

Keith gulped as Allura turned to the receptionist and all the men started when she slammed her hands on the desk. She looked straight into the alien's eyes, threatening, and the paladins could have sworn she was suddenly a few centimetres taller and slightly bulkier.

"Listen, I am one of the last Altean alive, princess of my lost planet, and my most precious friend has been injured and needs some rest. I am actually very tired and irascible, and the two men behind me are powerful warriors who defeated the Galra Empire. Thus, I'm asking you one last time: find a room for us to rest, or my wrath will make you regret being born."

Shiro and Keith exchanged a worried look, almost afraid by the princess' serious and weary tone, and the black paladin tightening his grip on Coran who was snoring on his shoulder, ready to go if things got risky.

"I have no room for any princess or so-called soldiers," the disgustingly colourful creature declared with a shrug, half a smirk spreading smugly on his face.

Kaltenecker mooed and in the time of one blink, the man was knocked out on the floor and Allura was outside, walking to the stairs, keys jangling happily in her clenched fist.

Shiro shivered discreetly and gestured to Keith to follow their princess, dragging Coran with him and pressing his palm onto the Altean's wound to avoid it to reopen and bleed again.

Awakened by the metallic noise of the key, Coran ordered Shiro to release him. He was cringing at every step, and going upstairs was a painful trial for him but he insisted on doing it by himself, as the proud Altean he was. The cold wind was keeping him awake and alert, but it couldn't take his guilt feeling away from him.

Coran trudged to the room, eventually supported again by Shiro who was carefully keeping a slow pace, and sat down on the nearest mattress, leaning against the head of the bed. A sigh of relief escaped his lips and the ginger haired man closed his eyelids.

The princess was pacing up and down, her fingers nervously tapping against her thigh in a rhythm of her own. Kaltenecker had started to chew the sheets of one of the beds when Allura let out a stressed growl.

"Coran, could you tell us what happened, please?" she asked him kindly, kneeling near him and taking one of his hands into hers.

His soft blue eyes focused on her and sadness slowly consumed them whole.

"A band of pirates entered the ship. They had swords and I tried to keep them from getting into the Castle, but there were too many of them. Some of their friends destroyed part of the ship while I was busy fighting the first ones, and they finally ejected me out of the Castle of Lions, with Kaltenecker and the mice… I'm sorry, princess…"

"All that matters is that you're alive, Coran," Allura reassured him with sincerity. "We'll take the Castle back, but first we need you to be in the best shape. The Castle can wait."

Her smile was pure and genuine, and warm tears rolled down the man's cheeks.

"Wait, there's something I don't get, here," Keith said with a frown. "Isn't the pilot of the Castle of Lions supposed to be Altean?"

There was an awkward silence and Shiro spoke up, glancing quickly at his own arm.

"Is there a way they could have got some Altean technologies? Did your people use to make prosthetics?"

"We heal ourselves in healing pods or with quintessence, we've never used our technologies in a medical purpose," Allura countered, her furrowed brows tracing concerned lines on her forehead.

"I think…" Coran faltered, his look sliding onto Keith. "I think one of them could be like you, paladin. A hybrid, a part Altean offspring…"

Pidge glanced at Lance again, not able to hide the half-smirk that had been threatening to spread on her lips for hours. The Cuban had barely said a word since the moment he had seen Keith's messages on his phone, completely stunned and flustered. Hunk had tried to make him react, a bit worried, but neither Leo nor himself managed to get the ex-blue paladin to reply.

"Error 404", Pidge snickered, pointing a finger at Lance. "Brain not found."

"What happened?" Leo muttered again, waving his hand in front of his brother and getting absolutely no reaction out of him.

Selena walked into the living-room where the paladins had migrated and had been joined by Leo, and she stopped in the doorway. The woman raised an eyebrow at her little brother, then she glanced at the phone which he was still holding in his hand. A smile appeared on her lips as an idea bloomed in her mind.

"How did you break him? You're not getting a new toy, guys, this was the only one we had in stock!" Selena joked, approaching them. Her gaze stopped on the phone again. "What do we have here?... Who is this 'Annoying Mullet'?... Wait! Don't tell me this is THE Mullet he was talking about? Keith, right? Oh my God, so this man exists for real?!"

The green and yellow paladins looked at each other in surprise, and turned to the woman.

"Do you know Keith?" Hunk asked, astonished.

"Has Lance ever talked about him?" Pidge added, her fists clenched on the sofa's mattress, so excited that she could have jumped from her seat.

Shock painted on Leo's face. "Oh, you mean this is the man he was rambling about?!" Leo yelled, turning to his brother in a fast move that almost made him fall from his chair. "This is the Keith?!"

Pidge was beaming, her huge toothy shit-eating grin directed to Lance. Even Hunk seemed to be uncomfortable around her when she was like this, a scary devilish creature.

Selena spoke again, so fast that she was becoming hard to follow. "What did he say? What has Keith sent to make Lance react like this? Was it a nude? If it was a nude I wanna see too!"

"Keith has asked him if he was okay," Pidge answered, irradiating something that felt like a blissful victory.

Selena let out a high-pitched shriek, Gabriel far erased from her memory, and Lance blinked at the sound. He raised his lost face to look at his sister who took him into a bear hug. "I KNEW IT!" Selena exclaimed straight in Lance's ears.

The night was thick and dark outside, and Coran's breathing was filling the room with a peaceful, reassuring atmosphere. They might have lost their ship, their last home, but the four of them were still together, along with Kaltenecker and the mice. Coran would heal fast and soon they would be able to take their Castle back. Even in the darkest hours, there were still ray of hopes to illuminate their path, and as for Allura, it was all that mattered. They were safe, they were together, and they were determined. They had defeated the Galra Empire, some teen space pirates wouldn't be so hard to put down!

But if Coran's theory was exact – and this sounded like the only logical explanation -, some of them were part Alteans, which meant that there were some other Alteans alive out there, hidden somewhere in the deep, vast universe. Maybe, just maybe they weren't the only ones of their species alive?

Leaning against Kaltenecker's back, Keith yawned behind his hand. His eyelids were falling heavily and the man was obviously struggling to stay awake. Allura had to admit she was getting sleepy too, but then the main issue imposed itself to the princess: there were only two beds in the room. Two king sized double beds, admittedly, but still only two beds, and there were four of them.

Allura's gaze wandered to her precious advisor. The mice were cuddling against Coran, warming him and protecting his wound, their tails knotted together in an intricate nest.

"I think it is time for us to rest," she indicated to the paladins, the hint of a blush piercing through her dark skin.

Keith opened his eyes suddenly, as if the thought of actually sleeping was worth being awake for a few more seconds. His look wandered to the two beds and his face and his shoulders fell heavily, he looked absolutely devastated and fragile.

"But… Um… Princess, there are only two beds," Shiro explained with a sad frown, looking almost as defeated as his friend. "And we all agreed on the fact that Coran deserves his own bed."

Keith nodded, his arms folded on his chest, no longer able to be more expressive.

Allura pinched her lips and looked around, as if a bed was going to appear from the shadow.

"We could switch places?" she offered in a weak tone.

"It's okay, Princess, you can have the other bed," Keith assured her, pinching his nose to stay awake for a few more minutes.

"I don't mind sharing," the Altean girl blurted so fast she didn't even realise that she had spoken out loud.

Keith raised an eyebrow and looked at her, she seemed genuinely concerned. Allura kept her gaze on him, though he knew what she truly wanted, even if she was too polite and too kind to voice it.

"I don't mind sleeping on the ground," Keith shrugged. All he wanted was to sleep, he needed some sleep. The faster they would take their decision, the faster he could have some rest.

The light on the princess's pendant pulsed more intensely – dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum -, and Shiro's eyes widened when he turned to Keith.

"Keith, I really think you should-"

"Stop acting like kids!" the red paladin raised his voice, upset and tired. "We all need to sleep, and don't act as if you couldn't share a bed! We're past those childish preoccupations and made up scenes, we all know you're going out!"

"Keith? Why are you so—"

The swordfighter cut his leader again. "Sleep. With. Her. Shiro. For god's sake, I swear I'm gonna kill someone if I don't get some sleep! Please!"

The couple looked at him, numb, and they slowly nodded without a word. Shiro blinked a few times before he gulped and looked at the Altean princess, his cheeks slightly redder than usual.

"I'm sorry?" Allura mouthed, but she was not particularly convincing with her equally red face.

"SLEEP!" Keith whisper-yelled, already lying on the floor, his back to Kaltenecker who was providing him an appeasing warmth. The paladin stuffed his jacket under his head in order to have a makeshift pillow, the handle of his knife in his hand, and he resolutely closed his eyelids. When he was sure that Shiro had listened to him and had climbed into his bed, a thought occurred to Keith who reached for his pocket. A discreet bluish light lit up in the room as he looked at his phone. Lance hadn't replied.

Quiznak, why was he so upset? Why was he so worried?

The rays of two green suns piercing through the curtains woke Shiro up late in the morning. The sheets were diffusing a comforting warmth and the black paladin could hear people breathing in the same room. He had absolutely no idea of where he was, but he couldn't care less, this had been his best night so far and for once he felt actually at peace. It was only when he felt something brushing against his chest that an alarm rang into his mind and Shiro opened his eyes on a sudden.

A soft murmur welcomed him and a cascade of silvery white curls was spreading out around him. A strand of silky hair was tickling his cheek pleasantly, and the black paladin couldn't resist touching it. His eyes followed the flow of hair and lingered on the princess's mocha skin. A light flared in the crook of her neck, and Shiro noted that even asleep, Allura was still wearing her necklace. A smile painted on the man's lips and he pulled his princess closer in a tight embrace, totally oblivious of the other two men in the room.

Several doboshes passed before Shiro noticed a change in the atmosphere of the room. The peaceful breathings had stopped, replaced by jerky breaths in a corner. Allura stirred in her sleep, and slowly she put the sheets out of her face. Two turquoise gems focused on Shiro, worried, and they both sat in the bed. Coran was standing in the same position as them and they met his concerned gaze. His injury seemed to be his very last preoccupation, and he gestured to a vague form on the floor.

"I'm sorry… I couldn't keep you by my side… Forgive me… Please, forgive me…"

Tears were running down Keith's face in his sleep and Shiro got up to kneel beside his friend. The black paladin put his hand on the young man's shoulder, a sad and tired look on his face, wondering who he could be apologising to. Red, perhaps? It made sense since the red paladin had pointed out that the Lions were left without any protection but their own.

"It's okay, Keith, we're right here with you," Shiro murmured, squeezing him lightly. He stayed on the floor, sitting near the boy until his breathing steadied.

One varga later, the red paladin woke up to worried faces, and his first reaction was to shut his eyelids closed in a vain attempt to hide from the others. He felt dry salty marks on his face and realised the reason of his friends' concerned attitude, which made him feel even worse and angrier.

"Are you okay, Keith?"

He couldn't bear the tone of Allura's voice. Keith forced himself to nod, without looking at any of them, and he stood up to show them that they didn't need to worry about him.

Shiro let out a brief sigh and walked back to the bed, glancing at Coran who sported a sad smile.

'The Castle has be stolen by space pirates, we're on our way to get it back. We all are fine, Coran has got a light wound on his side but it's not serious. Kaltenecker and the mice are with us.'

'The Lions are still in the Castle, though…'

'I think Matt knows some people who could help us finding a new ship, could you ask him for me, please? We're in a space harbour, I'm sending you our coordinates.'

Shiro sighed again and looked at his friends. Hopefully, Pidge would reply soon, she had always been keeping her phone with her since the day they walked their separated ways.

Lying on his bed in the dark, Lance clenched his fists into balls, wanting to punch something - preferably himself but it would have been difficult to do. He gritted his teeth and glanced at the screen of his phone for a few seconds before he muffled a rage moan in the blanket.

He hadn't replied yet, he didn't feel capable of doing so. The messages were still the same, unchanged.

"I need to be sure you're fine." What was that?! How could Keith, of all people, send him a text like this?! He couldn't be worried about him, this was impossible! The only logical explanation, in Lance's opinion, was that someone had threatened to hurt him and Keith wanted to prove that they had lied.

"Lance, this isn't a freaking mafia movie, this is real life," the boy lectured himself. But what was real life, already? He had gone to space, further than any human besides his teammates would ever be able to travel; he had helped defeating a whole empire that threatened the universe. He could have made a movie about how much of a mess his life was! No, better idea: a whole tv series!

Another glance to his phone. "Please, answer me." Lance could imagine the tone of his voice.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?!" the ex-blue paladin yelled loudly. "And what the hell is wrong with you?!" he screamed again, staring at his phone.

He didn't understand. He didn't understand anything anymore. This wasn't like Keith, this wasn't like him… This wasn't like them! They were rivals, they were friends, they were teammates, good acquaintances, but Keith wasn't one to send messages, especially not this kind of messages! Keith couldn't be worried about him, at least not out of battle, it was weird.

Lance flipped his phone unlocked and pressed his fingertip against the typing block of the screen. He was going to reply something light and sly when Pidge burst into his room without knocking.

"PIDGE?! WHAT THE FUCK, I COULD HAVE BEEN… naked?" Lance faltered, his cheeks red and his eyes locked on the girl who was only barely paying attention to him.

She waved her phone right in front of Lance's face, who frowned and took it out of her hand, already forgetting his first purpose of replying to the red paladin.

On Pidge's phone screen were messages from "Space Daddy" – Shiro, Lance assumed – and the boy read through them quickly, the lines between his eyebrows deepening as he went through the conversation. When he arrived at the final dot, Lance was standing up in his room without having realised that he had moved.

"We have to help them!" he declared when Hunk arrived in the room, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"What have I missed?" the yellow paladin asked, his voice lower than usual.

"In a few words: the Castle has been stolen, the Lions are still inside, Shiro and the others are stuck in a space harbour and they need my brother to help them find a ship to get the Castle back," Pidge explained, which left her breathless.

"And we can't leave them like this," Lance finished, moving his arms angrily as he spoke. "We need to find a ship to go to them! Pidge, will Matt help us?" The girl seemed to be lost deep in thoughts. "PIDGE?"

She held her hand in front of him with a scowl. "Don't scream at me."

"Um… Guys… Does that mean we're going back to space?" Hunk pointed out with hope and happiness, his heart suddenly racing.

"I take it that you're in," the girl said with a huge grin which was feeling like wistfulness and joy. "Lance?"

The latter sat down on the edge of his bed, holding his head between his hands. "My family will never let me go again… It'll break their hearts…"

"We can understand if you want to stay," Hunk offered him with concern, putting his hand on Lance's shoulder to bring him support.

"But I want to go with you guys!" the blue paladin declared, his bright eyes locked into his friends'. "I think… I think this…" he stammered, gazing at his friends, then pointing at the photos on his wall. "I think this is where I truly belong."