#also omg your tags were so good

[lasersheith]

based on @happysheith‘s tags from this post

Space looks different inside a ship than staring up from the ground. It made sense, Keith didn't know why he found it so surprising. He wasn't sure how he could find anything surprising anymore, not after the last few weeks he'd had.

The warm weight that encompassed him from behind didn't surprise him nearly as much as the stars had. He lifted his hands to wrap his fingers around Shiro's now much broader forearms. The cool metal under his glove didn't surprise him, either. Shiro nuzzled his cheek into the side of Keith's head, leaving a brief kiss in his wake. “I've been looking all over for you.” He murmured. “We finally have more than 5 minutes to breathe.” He added with a quiet chuckle.

Keith turned his head so he could press their lips together. “Sorry, thinking about some stuff.” Keith whispered against Shiro's lips.

“Like what?” Shiro asked, resting his chin on Keith's shoulder.

A thousand things swirled around his mind. He wanted to know everything, where Shiro had been, what he'd seen, what they'd done to him, what they made him do. It was all too much. He closed his eyes and thought back to home, suddenly remembering the nearly empty jar underneath the couch in his little house in the desert.

He'd never taken out the last strip. It was supposed to be for the day that Shiro came home, but Shiro didn't come home, not when he was supposed to. 507 small strips of paper littered his house: some he used as bookmarks, a few were taped to his mirror, one was still tacked to his corkboard. Most of them were in a separate jar he'd gotten a week after Shiro left. He couldn't bring himself to throw any of them away.

The first note stayed in his wallet, right behind the Garrison issued ID badge that he'd never bothered returning. It was wrinkled and torn at the edges and tear-stained. Keith opened his eyes and pulled away from Shiro, just enough so he could look at his face. “What did the last note say?” Keith asked, suddenly overwhelmed with the need to know.

“What note?” Shiro answered, stepping forward to cup his chin and run his thumb across Keith's cheek.

Keith took a deep breath. “That jar. The one you wrote the notes for me to look at while you were gone. For my birthday.” He swallowed hard and couldn't look into Shiro's eyes. “I never opened the last note.” His voice broke as he whispered. Shiro didn't speak for an agonizingly long time, and when he did, it was worse.

“I'm sorry.” Came the quiet reply. Keith looked up into Shiro's watery eyes. “I'm so sorry.” He said again, pulling Keith to his chest. Keith whispered his name softly and tried to pull back but Shiro's arms tightened around his shoulders. “I don't… I don't remember what it says.” He sobbed into Keith's hair.

It was disappointing to say the least, but Keith steeled himself. He'd resolved before to never know and it didn't matter now. “It's ok, Shiro. We’re here, we’re together. That’s what’s important.” He murmured, pressing a kiss to Shiro's shoulder. “It doesn't matter what the note said.” He wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure Shiro or himself.

They stood and held each other for a long time, not knowing what to say.

..

Years passed. The rouge Galra factions were slowly beaten back by the coalition and by Voltron. It would take decades, maybe centuries, for the universe to return to some kind of normalcy after such a long reign of tyranny. With Allura leading the coalition and Lotor leading the reformation of the Galra empire, the Paladins of Voltron were no longer needed to defend the universe.

Keith wasn't entirely sure where everyone else had ended up, but he and Shiro went back to Earth, back to Keith’s place in the desert. The tiny house was a lot worse for wear with no one having been there in so long, but they had each other and nothing but time.

Cleaning out the house gave them both something to do. Something much lower-stakes than universe-saving, but a goal nevertheless. It was Shiro who found the jar, tucked away under the couch. The tape had held under the jar’s seal and he smiled as he brought it to the other room for Keith to see.

No words were exchanged as Keith opened it, pulling the small scrap of paper off of the bottom. It tore a little as he ripped the tape away. “Tonight I'll finally be back where I belong: with you.” Keith read aloud, smiling up at Shiro.

They both laughed a little. It was nothing earth shattering, nothing profound. A simple statement of truth. “Well, I will be.” Shiro said with a grin. He fiddled in his pocket and Keith’s eyes went wide as he knelt, knowing he’d never have a more perfect opportunity than that one. “Tonight, and every night after. If you’ll have me.” He said, holding out a simple tungsten band.

Keith shook his head with a wide smile. “No.” He answered.

“No?” Shiro asked, standing up and moving closer, smiling wide as well. This part? This he remembered.

Keith bit his bottom lip before continuing. “You have to say it.” Both of their eyes misted. “I have to hear it.”

Shiro took Keith’s left hand and held it to his chest. “Keith, will you marry me?” He asked quietly.

“Yes.” Keith answered, letting Shiro slip the ring onto his finger.