My dear friends, thank you for reading this! There is no too much klance, but there is angst and hurt/comfort. Please do enjoy!
*I do not own Voltron*
WARNING: Implied child abuse (not explicit, but its there), please do not read this if that triggers you!
VOLTRON
Keith knew the pain
In fact, he knew many things. But when it came to understanding what it felt to not have someone to catch him when he fell, or nobody worth it enough to come home to. It would be him in a heartbeat.
The tears, the riddled heartbreak, even the state of mind, the red paladin knew it all far too well. He told everyone that it didn't matter, that his heart didn't break every time he saw someone clearly ignoring him or calling him something he wasn't.
He didn't tell the others, only Shiro really knew. But even then, the black paladin couldn't have, nor would he ever be able to understand what Keith has had to go through, what he has had to endure. What he knew.
Other's called it bad luck, but Keith just called it fate. He had already accepted this a while ago, it was in his terms, 'a burden of his own, destined for the beginning'. Maybe he should've not been so hard on himself, told himself that he deserved better thoughts of mind.
But nobody else deserved this pain. Keith was definably one to abide by that, even going as far as to spare a single glance that told it all.
'It's hard now, but its going to get better'
Except, the red paladin knew it wasn't going to get much better for him. The fun part of his life had already happened for such a short time. But for others, that he could change. Of course, nobody noticed, nor did they ever care. Though to Keith, it seemed he was making a difference.
That's all that really mattered
Who cared if his childhood was nothing but trauma and unresolved anger? Who cared if he wasn't happy with how his life turned out?
For a while, Keith pretended that his life was truly over, it was easier to pretend knowing the truth might crush him. It was always easy to pretend.
Then the paladins came around, giving him a chance that he didn't know that he needed. The position forced him to reevaluate, to accept his team members, and to even call them family. Which he's never been able to do.
Sure, it was only a name. Just how Voltron was more of a symbol of hope rather than a figure with attached lions. It might've been an excuse to avoid all his problems on earth, but it did the job. Keith didn't forget the hate; nobody could ever forget that. Though it made him forgo the sadness, and replace it with anger.
Anger was better than being depressed
Or at least that was his reasoning
That was until a few months later when the paladins were called down to talk to the king on a certain planet. The vegetation was plentiful, an artificial sun was the heat-source for the rather humid environment.
The inhabitants of the planet closely resembled humans, except that they had four fingers and toes instead of five. Their eyeballs were conjoined, and their skin tone took on a rather blue shade. But other than that, one could mistake them for the inhabits of earth.
Naturally, the paladins did their research before embarking down unto their quarters. With nothing out of the ordinary – well, as much as one could call ordinary in space – the paladins took their lions down to the humid planet.
"There is sure a lot of plants' here," Pidge noticed, landing her lion closer to the mountain. "I wonder how many kinds there are."
"Or how edible," Hunk added on. Earning a chuckle from everyone who knew him, it was no secret that Hunk would take any edible thing and turn it in a nice dish. Anything was better than constantly eating space goo.
The other's landed their lions closer to the lake, unlike the green paladin. It wasn't a large distance, but it would provide immunity in case anyone tried to take the lions without them noticing. Which was close to impossible. Though one could never take a small chance to prevent something so big. They met up in the center.
"Hoo wee, it's humid here," Lance complained. "Can we at least take off our helmets? I'm dying in this."
Pidge nodded. "We should be fine to take off our helmets, just keep it close in case something happens."
"Dude, we are not going to leave our helmets anywhere. Do you really think that I would leave it in a lake or something?"
"I wouldn't put it past you."
Hunk and Keith sighed at the green and blue paladins antics. It was weird, usually Keith was the one snapping at Lance.
How things changed in such a short span of time was truly a wonder.
It took them far too long to get to the center of the town, where the king met them with full arms.
"Hello Paladins, and welcome! Oh, do we have a treat for you. But first, let's lead you all to my castle. I'll explain more information there." The king exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.
He walked forward, taking the paladins with him. Lance and Pidge talked amongst each other while Hunk talked to the king's assistant. With nobody to have a conversation with, Keith looked around at the town.
It was small, he would say. Smaller than he originally thought it would be. But the houses looked fairly strong, while there were sources of food and water being sold nearby. Children ran around, as kids naturally did. The adults conversed amongst themselves, throwing looks at the paladins - dirty or not - every now and then.
The red paladin was about to look back up front when he heard a scream and nearby cry.
Being a paladin taught one many things, including that a scream could mean many different things. But it was the reflexes that he had learned to grasp the most.
"Stop, please!"
Keith turned around to see a young girl, of whom looked to be around thirteen years old, being kicked out by two older adults.
"Please, I have no where else to go!" She begged, tears streaming down her blue cheeks. "I've done nothing wrong."
One of the older man stepped out of the house. "You little rat, that's what you always say. I knew that I should've never taken you in. Last time I be kind to my family."
"But I am family." The girl's voice cracked. "I'm as close as family gets!"
"You're no family of mine."
With that, the two older men shut the door in the poor girl's face. It took a second for her to react, but she was quick in doing so. Standing up, the girl raced to the nearest alley way, taking nothing but her lonesome self.
Keith wanted to follow her, for he knew how it felt to be kicked out. Almost most of his entire life centered around being tossed around due to, as others called it, a burden. But he very well couldn't just leave the king for a single person.
Yet again…
"King!" he called out. "There's something over there in that alley; I saw them carrying a blade."
It was a reasonable excuse, one that had half a truth embedded in it already
The king gave a worried look. "Oh, would you look red paladin? I would be in dept of your greatest honor."
"Of course, but you should keep going. In case, the person escapes."
"Smart idea. Now, let's move."
The rest of the paladins followed him, some throwing suspicious looks at him. But he could always explain later, they would understand.
Turning to the alley way, Keith entered only to see a sobbing girl hunched in the corner. Her knees were to her chest, but the most concerning part was how skinny she was.
"Hey, are you ok?"
The young girl looked up, confused as to why someone as important as a paladin was speaking to her. But she did not speak. Almost too afraid to, a common effect of being, once again, kicked out from home to home.
"Sorry, that's a stupid question," Keith muttered. "What I mean to say is that, will you be, ok?"
"Why do you care?" Her voice was low. "I'm only a small servant girl. Why would someone as important as you, be talking to me?"
"Because I care, or maybe it's because I know."
"You know what?"
"How it feels to be kicked around, to be treated that you are the problem, that being part of a family is not something you have."
Keith rarely ever opened up about his past, and he often had good reason not to. But it was hard to find someone who understood. He would've paid millions of dollars for someone to come up to him saying that they knew how much pain he was feeling.
Or that they even cared
The girl, he knew, would have a hard future. It was sad but true, though it wasn't to late to turn it around.
Her little voice reached her ears. "How do you know?"
He looked over at her small form, yet trembling one as well. She looked so scared, broken, almost as he once did before accepting his role as a paladin. People were easy to break, some were not. But if anyone deserved to hear his words, it would be her.
"Because I was once like you. Alone, yet very angry. I thought the world ended when my dad died, but it didn't. I know that it feels as if the world is ending, that you will never be loved again. But let me tell you something, someone in the world is thinking of you right now, and someone is letting you become part of them. I'm thinking of you right now. Which many taken for granted…but not us. We understand how hard it is to be thought of, loved and…."
"I did nothing wrong," she moved closer. "Ever since my father and mother died, I tried to please them. What did I do wrong!?"
"Nothing, nothing at all." His voice was soft, caring, and very welcoming. "It's not your fault, it never was. If anything, it's their fault for not loving you."
Neither said a word for a moment after that, not knowing what to possibly say to make everything better. Because truthfully, nothing was ever not going to be perfect. Some were simply meant to live a harder life than others.
"Will I ever be loved?" The young girl asked, tears still streaming down her face. It only made him want to move closer to her.
He looked at the girl dead in the eye. "What's your name?"
"Lyra, I can promise you that someday, you will find that special someone who will love you until the day you die."
"What do I do until then?"
"Remember this," he placed his hand on her chest. "Someone right now is thinking about you and loves you."
She locked eyes with his. "And who might that be?"
"Me," Keith smiled softly.
"But I only just met you, why would you love this giant mess?"
"Oh Lyra, you are far from a mess. It doesn't matter if I just met you, as Pidge says, time is relative.
If Lyra could've cried any more, she would've. But her mind was already fatigued with slumber, exhausted from her emotional breakdown.
"Well sir, I love you too."
Keith gave another soft smile at her grin. Though he could remotely watch her slump against the wall, clearly exhausted.
He could often relate.
When she fell asleep completely, Keith picked her up. The king had empty rooms in his place, he could afford to give one up to Lyra.
-0-
The paladins had been surprised when Keith brought Lyra into the castle, but when he told the story, as predicted, understood his reasoning. Luckily, the king had also been, equally, understanding and offered the young girl a permanent room.
"I've always wanted a child but never was able to complete the action to do so. Maybe if she said yes, I could adopt her into my life." The king spoke with much excitement.
All to which made Keith smile.
So much that when he was heading to his room, seeing Lance standing by his door didn't damper his mood in any way.
"What did I do to deserve such an honor?" Keith asked the blue paladin when he reached his room in the castle.
Lance grinned. "I don't know if you deserve this honor, but I did want to say something to you."
"Does it involve any swear words?"
"This time no," Lance's grin disappeared. "But in seriousness, I want to say that what you did for Lyra was admirable. Almost heroic even."
Keith grinned. "Are you complimenting me?"
"Yes, yes, I am. Call me a changed man or whatever, but you changed her life, Keith. Lyra will live on because of you."
"She would've without me, she's a strong soul."
"Yeah," Lance smiled. "I should let you get to bed. But Keith?"
"What's up?"
The blue paladin grabbed his hand. "I really admire the things you do, never forget that."
"I wouldn't," Keith put on a hand on his chest. "If you'll remember how, you do things past the impossible."
"I promise."
With that, Keith and Lance, both gave each other a soft embrace before leaving to their respective rooms.
Both slept easier that night, even far better than before. Lyra would be ok, and so would they. Maybe the future didn't heal all trauma's, but it surely healed some.