Honestly, Lance doesn't have a clue how long it's been since the events of their fight with Lotor. He knows it's been a couple of quintants, but he can't pin a specific number for the amount of time that's passed. As of now, he and the rest of Team Voltron, along with a few guest passengers such as Krolia, Romelle, and others were currently settled on a random planet in order for the lions to rest from their current expedition back to Earth. Despite his desperate need to go home and see his family again, pit stops like this were the perfect opportunity for him to calm his mind. As soon as they landed, he stretched his legs and walked to a nearby ledge, sitting on an opal-colored boulder and gazing at the planet's dark purple sky and breathing in it's cool and clean air, reminding him of home.

It's been half a varga since then when Lance decides to look back and check on the team, considering he had distanced himself as soon as they landed. Coran and Allura were next to the Blue Lion, currently feeding some berries to Kaltenecker...or at least trying to. Lance sent them a bittersweet smile, mainly towards Allura. They haven't really spoken since he was comforting her in the castle. As much as he hated the idea of her being with Lotor and as much as he wished to God that something would happen so that they would break up, he didn't wish this suffering on her. Finding out that the man she ended up falling for was responsible for the deaths of countless surviving Alteans from another living Altean and then having to fight him all at once. He was at least glad that he was there for her when she eventually broke down into his arms at the Castle. She just needed a friend, a title that the Cuban teen was slowly starting to come to grips with as his only title to her.

Right next to them were Matt and Romelle, whom were sitting on Blue's paw conversing. After Allura resurrected Shiro and started traveling towards Earth, Pidge was able to contact her brother and tell him their whereabouts as the latter was actually about to head to the Castle, which had recently vanished from existence sadly. After saying goodbye to his crew, the older Holt had flown from their base and told her he was on his way, leading them to quickly head back to the planet they were previously on. That was probably the first time Lance had seen the Green Paladin cry, watching her sob profusely as he gripped her brother telling him everything that happened as he stroked her hair and tried to soothe her sobs into sniffles while slowly beginning to shed tears himself. From what he could tell, Matt was telling some sort of technological joke that anyone would've cringed at but surprisingly Romelle was laughing genuinely. Even though they had just met, Lance could tell they would get along quite smoothly.

Lance turned his head to the left and saw Hunk and Pidge sitting with Krolia. The Galran was sitting on the Green Lion's paw, arms crossed with a small smile on her face while Hunk and Pidge were sitting in front of her on the ground, eyes wide with excitement and their mouths moving a thousands miles per minute, with Krolia giving an occasional response. When Lance looks at her closely, he can only stare in awe. The shape of her face, the shape of her eyes, her Galra markings. He could definitely see some of Keith in her. Yes, he did act sort of stupidly at the fact that this woman was actually Keith's mom, but he really was happy to know that Keith had found himself more family, especially considering that the only other person that Keith considered family was Shiro and he didn't know whether or not Keith's father was even in the picture. That being said, the tech duo were probably asking her questions about Keith and what he was like as a kid, but given the small amount of responses she actually gave about him and the occasional uncomfortable looks she gave, she probably left him when he was at least still a baby. Her face soon changed as they started asking her about her experience in the Blade. The Red Paladin felt a small pang in his chest, small bits of jealousy that he didn't want or need beginning to take over. Yes, he missed his family, but that was no excuse for him to start feeling upset that Keith was able to find his family. And as much as he hated to admit it, Keith leaving to join the Blades was probably a blessing in disguise. With a deep sigh, Lance closed his eyes and slowly turned his head and shifted it to the right. He took a few more shallow breaths before opening his eyes.

How do we know you're the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?

I don't have time for this, Lance!

Hey, everybody! Keith's back!

He was further away from everyone else, sitting on the paw of the Black Lion. He was facing away from the group, looking at the sky and anything else that was in the distance and petting his space wolf. Lance couldn't blame him, not after everything he's been through. Not only was he away on some unknown mission for two years, he ends up finding an Altean who tells him about Lotor's true intentions, has to fight the guy who is practically his brother (who Lance is hoping to God isn't the reason Keith has that scar) and every other jacked up thing that happened leading up to where they are now. Speaking of Shiro, he actually decided to stay in the healing pod a little bit longer to get some extra rest, a decision that everyone agreed with despite their need of wanting him to stay awake so that they could catch up and hug him endlessly. As much as he wanted to do just that, the red paladin couldn't help but continue to feel guilty knowing that he could've saved him sooner and spare everyone all of this trauma. But knowing Shiro, he would tell him not to blame himself and nothing could've prevented it; a statement he would probably even tell Keith. When it was time for him to go back into the healing pod, words couldn't even begin to describe how sad and forlorn he looked, so much so he didn't even try to conceal his dread. The way that his purple eyes-

Shit

Lance was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't realize that Keith had turned around and was looking directly at him. The red paladin'e eyes widened in horror. How long was I thinking, he thought. The black paladin stared at him for a couple more seconds before getting up from Black's paw, giving his wolf one last pat before he started walking towards him. Lance turned around quickly and tried to focus back on the sky, which was now turning lighter in hue. But with the way that his heart was beating as fast as the Flash and how the air started getting so humid out of nowhere, that feat proved impossible.

"Lance."

Lance froze, holding his breath and clenching the edge of he boulder that he was sitting on. He continued looking ahead, not responding because even if he wanted to his throat thought that it was the perfect time to close and not let any sentences slip out of the Cuban's lips. He could hear him walking towards him and felt a sudden burst of warmth next to his armor. Lance slowly turned his head from the sky, hoping that Keith was at least looking at the sky as well. He couldn't have been more wrong, seeing a pair of bright violet eyes practically staring into his soul, causing him to retreat his head back to its original direction.

"Keith! Hey! Uh..."

Come on, Lance. Think of something!

"How's life?"

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

If there was a comet anywhere near the planet they were sitting on, Lance was BEGGING for it to destroy him in this very moment. Out of all of the things he could've said to this guy, he decided to say THAT?! The dude literally went through something that was basically BEYOND hell and he's gonna ask him that like he didn't GO THROUGH HELL!

"Wait! Wait, Keith I-!"

"I...know you didn't mean it that way, Lance." Keith slowly replied. Lance finally turned his head and saw Keith with his head down, eyes closed and probably contemplating his next response. After a few moments, he turned his head and looked at Lance.

"But to answer your question. I guess you could say that I've seen better days." he responded, giving a small chuckle and just the smallest hint of a smirk. Slowly but surely, Lance was finally put at ease, knowing that he didn't offend him or bring back any unnecessary trauma from...recent events. He sent back Keith a small chuckle of his own as they both decided to turn back to look across the ledge. The then dark purple sky now turning into a vibrant yet soft lavender with soft grazes of pink appearing as its sun slowly started to rise upon its surface. As much as he wanted to enjoy this newfound enjoyable silence, Lance knew that he and the half-Galran had some things to discuss, and they were things that the red paladin couldn't keep concealed any longer no matter how much he wanted to. But what was he even supposed to say? How could even bring it up? Would he even care? Well, he would't know unless he tried.

_

Keith couldn't remember the last time he was able to actually sit down and enjoy life. Just being able to sit down and actually watch a sunrise without fearing for his life felt new to him, even though this was something he would do in the early mornings during his time living in the dessert (before and after foster care) and whenever he would sneak out of his countless guest bedrooms in the homes of his various foster families. But even with the peaceful feeling that was stirring within him, he couldn't fully enjoy himself, not after everything that happened.

Finding out that Krolia was his mother. Traveling on a space whale for two years, which led him to finding a random space wolf (whom he loves dearly) and a living Altean. Learning that Lotor was harnessing the quintessence of innocent Alteans. Returning to the Castle only to get attacked by Lotor's generals and Shiro-. He didn't want to go there, not when he was finally starting to calm down. Not when he was finally at peace, and with Lance no less.

Lance.

Though the greeting he gave him back at the Castle was a bit hostile, Keith couldn't deny how much he had missed Lance during the time that he was away at the Blade. Not a day went by when he didn't think about giving anything to hear his ridiculous insults or his terrible pick-up lines or seeing him smile. If anything, he wanted nothing more but to just chill on the deck and catch up with him without a care in the world. The moment he saw him on the landing deck with the others, he just wanted to grab his hand and pull him into the tightest hug he could muster, but given the situation that was at hand at the time, he had to push his feelings aside.

"H-hey, Keith?" the latter asked hesitantly. Keith glimpsed at the Cuban briefly and saw that he was staring at the sunrise, but his then calm expression turned into one of pure anxiousness.

"What's up?" he responded.

He could see Lance tense up as he tried to respond. He kept on opening his mouth, trying to form words in order to expel them from his throat, but to no avail. The Cuban ended up turning his head to face Keith completely, his anxious expression still evident on his face with a pinch of fear mixed into it.

"Lance, it's okay. I know it's been awhile since we talked, but...you can talk to me. Tell me what's wrong." Keith replied gently, trying not to place a pleading tone in his voice. His response seems to have worked because the fear in Lance's eyes immediately evaporated.

"Well, I-"

"PALADINS! IT'S TIME WE KEPT ON MOVING!"

The Black and Red Paladin turned their heads to find Allura and everyone else packing up their stuff to continue the journey back to Earth. Pidge and Hunk were asking their final questions to Krolia, Allura and Coran were trying to push Kaltenecker back into Red, and Romelle walked with Matt back to his aircraft, probably riding with him for the remainder of the trip. Keith looked back at Lance to find him looking at everyone else a little bit longer before finally turning back to him. Before he could even say anything, Lance spoke the first words.

"Ah, nevermind. We can talk about it once we land again. Talk to you later." he spoke rather quickly. Lance sent him a small smile before getting up from the boulder and heading towards Blue, but not without petting Keith's wolf, who was was sprinting towards his owner eagerly. Keith chuckled and scratched behind the wolf's ears with affection. He got up from the boulder and stretched. He went to find Lance, only to see that Lance had already retreated back into Red. Keith sighed, starting his walk back to Black, Despite the dejected feeling forming his stomach, he was hopeful. This probably just wasn't the right time. They would have plenty of time to catch up and talk things over at the next pit stop or the second they landed back on Earth...

Or so he thought...