Chapter 17: Launch Dates(Part 2)(Lance's POV)

Lance nervously comes up to the front door of where the Dupain-Chengs are staying until going to Paris in the evening. Knocking a couple of times he waits for the door to open. He hopes the suit Hunk picked out isn't too formal for lunch and then dinner at his family's place.

When the door opens he's surprised at the big muscular man who opens it. This is Marinette's dad! Swallowing nervously he introduces himself, "I'm Lance Mclain…."

"Ah, you must be the boy Marinette was talking about bringing over. You must be someone special." The man says, smiling.

He blushes at the complement as the man gestures for him to come inside. "Marinette, my wife, Keith, Adrien, and Chloe are already inside."

Walking into the home it looks quaint. The Living room is right in front of the doorway and he sees Adrien sitting with Keith and Chloe on the big couch, while Marinette sits alone on one of the loveseats while who he assumes is her mother sits in the other. The man sits on the other loveseat while Lance takes the empty spot next to Marrinette.

"So, Ms and Mr. Dupain-Cheng, how do you know english so well?" He asks, starting conversation.

"Well foreigners often come to our Bakery, particularly Americans and often some of the other English speaking countries as well. So to make their experience more practical and less stressful if they didn't know French very well we learned English. And it makes our business stand out."

"Okay,"

"Lance, Keith, what made you guys go to the Garrison in the first place?" Marinette asks changing the subject.

"Ah, well, I was a troubled kid in school and one day Shiro came by our school to pick candidates from the school to attend the Garrison. I, ah, overheard Shiro and my teacher talking about me while I was playing the simulation they brought over to test us and what I heard wasn't good so I stole his car."

"You stole Shiro's car! Why?" he exclaims, while the others gasp. How could Keith do that to his idol to their leader for pete sakes!

"Like I told you, I didn't like what the teacher told him. Surprisingly instead of getting mad at me or getting me into trouble he helped me out instead by offering to go to the Garrison. And that's how I ended up at that prestigious flight school."

"For me I wanted to do something different than become a part of a family of farmers and when I read about Shiro and his escapades, he inspired me to be a fighter pilot. Though I only got to that rank because you dropped out."

"And we all became Paladins of Voltron." Keith adds.

"Yeah that we did." He chuckles.

Then they go on to talk about all sorts of topics while eating a fabulous light lunch with delicious pastries added into the mix as well. It feels good to talk and laugh and just have a plain old good time with one another.

"Sorry kids, but it's like we've got to go." Sabine says interrupting a thrilling conversation about which Disney film is the best.

Marinette hugs her mom, "I wish you could come with us."

"I know sweetie, but you and your friends will do fine. You are members of Voltron and Team Miraculous correct?"

"Yeah, it's just I'm going to miss you."

"Cheer up sweetheart, we will be here when you get back. I hope our recipes will serve you well in space." Her father replies.

"They will." And they all join in a hug with Keith and Adrien joining them. After the hug they all congregate on the lawn and Keith says, "I'll miss you,"

Marinette's mother smiles sadly, "So will we. But like Tom said you'll all be fine. And Keith, Adrien make sure Marinette doesn't get into trouble."

Keith and Adrien chuckle with Adrien saying, "Will do. See you when we come back."

They wave goodbye and Marinette's parents wave back from the car and drive to the newly built airport.

Later in the Evening:

Lance freshens up in his bathroom. The lunch date with Marinette's family was nice and he hopes that Marinette feels the same about tonight. He hopes the nice-casual outfit he picked for tonight would be as nice as his casual outfit for Lunch with Marinette's parents.

When he walks down the stairs he pauses. Marinette looks gorgeous. She's wearing a light blue dress that stops at her shoulders. The sleeves are puffy, kind of like a princess's dress sleeves but a little more modern and ribbon from the dress goes up and around her neck. Her dark blue hair is down highlighting the light blue even more. A small corsage of flowers is on the dress near the sleeve and a bigger corsage is on her waist attached to a gold belt that wraps around her waist. The light blue dress flows out and has layers on the skirt making it look frilly with white little star patterns on the two layers of the dress. Her shoes are also light blue and are high heels.

"You look stunning," He murmurs.

"So do you. Quite a step from our lunch date attire," Marinette responds.

He giggles, "Yeah I suppose so."

"Marinette this is my mom, my Pop-Pop, you already my sister Veronica, my other sister Rachel, my brother Marco, and my older brother Luis, his wife Lisa and his kids, Silvio and Nadia."

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"Remember when Veronica mixed dirt and water together and convinced Lance it was water?" asks his pop-pop making him cross his arms and pout in embarrassment.

"What did he do after?" Marinette asks.

Veronica chimes in, "He told on me of course and after Pop-Pop gave him ice-cream while I received none."

Marinette chuckles and Marko adds, "Yeah Lance was always the prankster of the family. In fact it took him bringing you here to graduate him to the adult table."

"Really?"

Then Veronica leans in and whispers, "So you and Marinette huh? She looks stunning,"

"Yeah she is. I don't know if she likes me the same way though."

"She's here isn't she, dealing with our family wackiness."

He chuckles, "I suppose that's true."

A Little Later:

They walk through the park devoid of any flora and fauna but the stars make up for it along with the moon nicely illuminating the path. They stop at a tree that's barren of leaves and he comments, "This place used to be so beautiful.."

Marinette responds, "But it will grow back. Life has a way of regenerating. Besides, the view of the night sky is still nice." She puts her hand on the tree.

"True." he says, walking towards her.

"You know, before I became confident in my role as Ladybug I doubted I would be a great hero and thought my friend Alya would be a better fit after I screwed up badly."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was badly bullied by Chloe and I didn't really have the confidence in myself like Tikki and Master Fu had in me. I only became Ladybug again to save Alya and ever since I've been the heroine in red."

"I…I have really bad doubts about myself, so I flirted and made jokes and acted as the class clown to hide my insecurities. But ever since joining Voltron I felt I could be more of myself that we were all a family." He confesses.

Marinette smiles, "Seems like joining Voltron was good for us, because I've never felt more confident than leading the Black Lion and having amazing teammates and you are more yourself, the you behind all the jokes and charm." Then she sighs, "But ever since coming back to Earth I've been relegated to the sidelines and with Adrien being the Leader of Team Miraculous and his team helping out in the Altas crew, I don't know where I fit in."

Lance turns her towards him and says sincerely, "Marinette you are the most amazing, courageous, creative, kind girl I've met and meeting you has been the best thing of my life. Your being a part of Team Voltron was instrumental, you helped us through so many tough situations, so don't think of it as a waste. Because it wasn't a waste to me the time we spent together."

"But what do I do? I don't contribute….."

Instinctively he kisses her and then pulls away. She blushes and he smiles, "Marinette, I love you for you. I know right now we don't know what to do or how to contribute on our voyage, but we'll figure it out together. I want you in my life, by my side, me being a guy you can depend on like when we were a team. And we still are."

"Thank you, Lance," and then she wraps her arms around his neck and goes on her tippy toes and kisses him back. The moment is sweet and tender.

Shiro's POV

Shiro stands besides his teammates and looks at Adam who is with the crew joining them on the Altas. Today is their launch and Shiro can't believe that Adam and he patched things up. His heart swells as he remembers when Adam said he loved him back and their date together was lovely. A little informal but they didn't have much time.

Allura takes the stand sporting a white uniform representing her command over the Atlas.

"Today we leave Earth to help restore peace to the Universe and finally bring this chapter to a close."