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eastofthemoon · 4 years ago

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A Paladin in the Fire Nation

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Rating: PG

Series: Voltron Legendary Defender/Avatar the Last Airbender

Summary: After the fight with Zarkon, Shiro accidentally gets tossed into another reality where humans have the ability to bend the elements. His best shot at returning home is with someone called the Avatar, while he waits he might as well take on the job of being the Firelord’s bodyguard.

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Shiro had been fearful Jee or Ling would question him further, and he wouldn’t have easy answers for either of them. Thankfully once he was safely back in his cell and his cuffs were removed, Jee instructed Ling to guard him and said nothing else.

The two sat in silence which suited Shiro just fine. It gave him time to think about his situation.

It was possible this was just a planet that had never encountered Voltron or the Galra but they looked like humans, and the guard had even said they were when Shiro asked.

But this place isn’t Earth, he thought. Wish the rest of the team were here.

His fists tightened. Was everyone alright? Did they survive the fight or did Zarkon capture them all and they were-

A gentle growl rumbled through his mind.

Shiro froze. “Black?”

Ling glanced up. “What?”

Shiro choked and waved a hand. “Oh, uh nothing.”

Ling raised an eyebrow, but gave a shrug.

Shiro leaned back and took a deep breath. Black?

Black purred. The voice wasn’t as strong as she normally was, but the fact remained she was still with him.

Okay, so I’m assuming something happened during the fight with Zarkon and I got transported to this place by accident?

The Black Lion purred again.

Is the team alright? Are they safe?

Another confirmed purr came and Shiro breathed just a bit easier.

Alright, so I’m going to assume I’m not on Earth, am I on a different planet?

He felt a growl this time. Then images of the astral plane along with words of ‘different’ and ‘reality’.

Shiro froze. I’m in another reality?b

The Black Lion purred again.

Shiro took a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair. That was a lot to take in.

Don’t suppose you can send me back?

The Black Lion growled and this time the words ‘too far’ echoed through his head.

“Figures,” Shiro muttered as he crossed his arms. So he was stuck here until he could find some way to get home. His eyes narrowed at the cell bars.

They were just made out of iron. Shiro could break out of this place easily, but he still didn’t know the layout of it. Besides, he had no idea what this reality was like.

I better just lay low until I can figure out what this place is like, Shiro thought as he drummed his fingers against his knee. Not sure how I’m going to do that though unless I get the Firelord to trust me.

Suddenly, he heard a door open. Shiro quietly watched Ling leave, heard mummering and came back with a tray of food.

“Lunch,” she decreed as she took out two bowls for herself and slipped the tray under the cell for Shiro.

Curious, Shiro pulled the tray closer to him. He wasn’t sure what kind of food this place would have.

Let’s see, looks like a kind of soup and-

Shiro blinked. Slowly, he picked up the second bowl and stared amazed at the contents. “Is that rice?”

Ling raised an eyebrow with her own bowl of soup in her hands. “Um, yes, last I checked.”

Shiro took the chopsticks and carefully picked up a mouthful of rice. He almost moaned in pleasure. Shiro had never been a picky eater, but it had been almost two years now since he’d had rice. Hunk would probably be crying if he was here.

Shiro swallowed, only to realize Ling stared at him in puzzlement.

“You..know that rice is overcooked?” she said. “And I’m fairly certain a day old.”

“I...haven’t had rice in a long time,” Shiro said slowly and forced a smile.

He couldn’t exactly explain he hadn’t had rice since he got captured in space.

Ling raised a wary eyebrow as she sat and reached for her bowl of soup.

“You are weird,” Ling replied but then shrugged as she ate more of her meal, “but I’ll take guarding you over having to watch Ozai.” She cringed. “That man gives me the creeps.”

Shiro had no idea who this Ozai was, but kept quiet as he ate another mouth.

Ling sipped her soup, but then coughed. “Arrg, really, they forgot to heat it up again,” she grumbled as she held the bowl over her right hand. “If your soup is cold, I would be willing to warm it up for you.”

“Um, thanks,” Shiro began, “but I don’t-”

A flame ignited in her hand. Shiro froze as the chopsticks slipped from his hand. Ling smiled as she held the bowl over the clearly burning fire in the palm of her hand. Once steam started to rise, the fire went out and she sipped.

“Much better,” she commented and suddenly noticed Shiro staring at her. “What?”

“How..how did you do that?” Shiro said as he pointed.

Ling blinked. “Do..what?”

“Hold a fire in your hand and not have it burn you?” Shiro asked, stunned.

Did these people have some kind of magical ability here?

Ling tilted her head. “Um..I was just bending.”

Shiro continued to blink in puzzlement.

“Fire bending,” Ling continued as she sent down her soup and waved around her arms. “You know bending.”

“I..I really don’t,” Shiro continued. “Is that some kind of spell?”

Ling’s jaw dropped as if Shiro had just said he’d never seen the sky. “What, no! Great Agni, how do you not know what bending is?!”

“For any truth that everyone knows a thousand people learn it everyday.”

Upon hearing the new voice, Ling sprang to her feet and bowed.

“Prince Iroh, forgive me,” she said as she bowed. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

Shiro frowned as the voice approached and saw it was the older man that had sat alongside Zuko earlier from the meeting.

He gave a reassuring smile as he waved at Ling. “Nothing to forgive,” he laughed. “My old bones are not creaky just yet.”

The man then turned to Shiro as he tucked his hands into his long sleeves. “We were not properly introduced,” he greeted. “I am Prince Iroh.”

“Uh..Hello,” Shiro said slowly as he stood and tried to give a bow like Ling had.

If he was stuck in this place, he had to try to stay on good terms with these people. Although, why was this man here?

Iroh nodded and then frowned upon seeing Shiro’s food tray and looked to Ling. “Is that his lunch?”

“It’s what the chef gave me to bring him,” Ling replied with a shrug.

Iroh stroked his beard. “The quality of the food seemed to have degraded since my time in prison.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. Did he just say prison?

“I will have to have a word with the kitchen later,” Iroh continued as he returned his gaze to Shiro. “It is just as well then that I extend my invention to you.”

Shiro narrowed his eyes. “Invention?”

“To join me for lunch in my chambers,” Iroh said smiling.

Shiro raised and lowered his hand, unsure how to respond. He had wondered if perhaps this was a local custom he wasn’t aware of, but judging by Ling’s equally shocked reaction it likely wasn’t the norm.

“Your chambers?” Ling said. “Sir, the Firelord made it quite clear the intruder was to remain in his cell.”

“I am aware,” Iroh said as he patted her shoulder, “although, I do believe it is not a realistic request.”

“What do you mean?” Ling asked.

Iroh pointed to Shiro. “I mean, I am quite certain this young man could break out of his cell whenever he wished but is only reframing from doing so in order to be customary to us.”

Ling’s eyes widened and glanced into the cell. Shiro rubbed the back of his neck as he gave a sheepish shrug.

“He’s..not wrong,” he said as he held up his cybernetic hand.

“Ah,” Ling replied slowly but then regained composure. “But Firelord Zuko-”

“I will handle him and take full responsibility,” Iroh said with a smile. “Now, can you please release Mister Shirogane?”

Ling looked hesitant and sighed. “Alright, but only if I’m allowed to escort you and him to your room.”

“That would be acceptable,” Iroh said with a smile as he stepped aside.

Shiro watched bewildered as his cell door was opened. He glanced at Iroh and his body tensed as he left. There was no way he was doing this on a lark. The man had to have some ulterior motive.

Ling went to the wall to fetch the handcuffs, but Iroh stopped her.

“There is no need for that,” Iroh insisted.

“But, Prince Iroh,” Ling began but quieted when Iroh shot her a look and pulled back her hand from the wall.

Iroh’s smile brightened as he tucked his hands behind his back. “This way please. I already informed the guards on route to avoid confusion.”

That made Shiro feel a bit more at ease. He’d rather not have the guards jumping at him for ‘escaping’ his cell. However, he still kept vigilant as he followed Iroh and Ling stayed close.

They walked in silence for several minutes until they reached what Shiro could only assume was the destination.

“Thank you, Ling,” Iroh said as he entered. “You may return to your post.”

Ling looked reluctant. “But shouldn’t I stand guard?”

Iroh gave her a smile. “I believe it would be better if you are at the cell in case the Firelord comes, and do not worry there are guards down the hall if I require assistance.”

Ling frowned, but sighed as she gave a bow. “Yes, Sir.” She glared at Shiro and pointed at her eye then his own. “Don’t try anything funny.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Shiro replied as he watched her go.

He debated if now would be a good time to try to escape, but he still didn’t know the layout of the place. Would he get that far?

“If you wish to escape that is fine,” Iroh commented, “but you might as well fill your stomach first.”

Shiro jumped slightly, but quickly regained his composure. No, it wouldn’t do much to escape now. Besides, talking to Iroh might be his best chance at learning more of where exactly he was.

The Black Lion growled in encouragement as Shiro entered.

Iroh’s quarters were certainly larger than Shiro’s cell. There were some furniture items, some states and artwork on the wall. There were maps, but Shiro didn’t recognize any of them. A low table with food and bowls sat in the centre of the room.

Before Shiro could speak Iroh suddenly shoved some articles of clothing into his arms.

“Here, these seem more fitting and comfortable than the robes you were given earlier,” Iroh said and pointed to a folding screen. “Change behind there.”

“Uh, thanks,” Shiro said as he went to where Iroh directed.

Shiro removed the robes but decided to keep on his paladin undergarments for added protection as he slipped on the sleeveless shirt. It was bright red with yellow along the collar and edges. The pants were simple black with a red sash to tie around his waist.

Once he was finished, Shiro stepped out and saw Iroh was sitting at the table. He smiled in approval.

“Ah good,” he said as he reached for empty cups. “I wasn’t sure if they would fit.” He held up a teapot. “How about a fresh cup of tea? It goes well with the komodo chicken.”

“Before that,” Shiro said as he sat across from Iroh, “how about you tell me the reason I’m here.”

Iroh shrugged as he poured a cup. “To have lunch of course.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “I’m not familiar with your culture, but I have a hard time believing inviting a stranger to lunch is a tradition here.”

Iroh laughed. “No, not really,” Iroh said as he set down his cup and poured another. “I merely thought this might be a more comfortable setting for asking questions.”

So he’s doing his own interrogation, Shiro thought. That explains a few things.

Iroh held out Shiro’s cup to him, but saw he didn’t move his hand.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Shiro said.

Iroh gave a laugh. “If you are worried I slipped something into the tea, I promise you I didn’t. To ruin tea in such a way would be a disgrace.” He set the cup in front of Shiro before reaching for his own and taking a sip. “Ah, that warms the old spirit.

Shiro frowned and eyed the cup. He should be suspicious, but something told Shiro the old man was being honest.

Gingerly, Shiro picked up the cup and took a sip. He froze as the flavor hit his tongue and old childhood memories struck him. He knew this taste!

“Is this jasmine?” Shiro asked, stunned. This place may be an alternative reality, but Shiro never expected to see so many familiar things from Earth.

Iroh beamed. “Why yes,” he said and laughed. “It is my favorite blend. Fellow tea lover are you?”

“Not really,” Shiro replied as he stared into the cup. “My grandfather drank it all the time when I was a kid.”

There were times Shiro swore his grandfather had tea water instead of blood in his body.

“Oh, a man after my own heart then,” Iroh said as he picked up his chopsticks. “He must have great taste.”

Shiro gave a bittersweet smile. “Yeah, he did.”

Iroh’s smile softened understanding the use of past tense and took a piece of komodo chicken. “Do you have chopsticks where you are from?”

“Yes,” Shiro said as he picked up his set and tried to ignore his stomach growls and gathered his own chicken. “I haven’t used them for awhile though.”

Iroh laughed. “Then it is a good time to practice.”

They then ate and Shiro had to admit the komodo chicken was delicious. It didn’t taste quite like chicken from his reality, but there was an earthiness to it that was intriguing. He felt guilty the other paladins weren’t here to enjoy it, especially Hunk.

I hope they’re alright, Shiro thought as the Black Lion responded with a comforting purr to the thought.

They ate in silence. Shiro assumed Iroh was trying to be polite, but became puzzled when half the food was gone, Iroh set down his chopstick and patted his stomach.

“Nothing like a good meal,” Iroh said as he reached for his tea. “Would you not agree?”

“Yes,” Shiro replied slowly. “It was delicious, thank you.”

Iroh smiled. “Then perhaps I should send us some dessert? I believe there are some tea cakes in the kitchen.”

Shiro frowned as he lowered his own chopsticks. “Um..perhaps we better get to the reason why I’m here.”

Iroh frowned, but then gave a nod. “Yes, of course.” He set down his cup and tucked his hands into his sleeves. “What would you like to know?”

Shiro blinked. “What?”

“I said what would you like to know?” Iroh repeated gently.

Shiro tilted his head. “Like to-” He pointed to himself. “Excuse me, Prince Iroh, I’m confused. You said I was here for an interrogation.”

Iroh shook his head. “No, I said it was to ask questions.” He gestured to Shiro. “And I meant for you to ask me.”

“For me to ask?” Shiro asked.

Iroh nodded as he stroked his beard. “I assumed there would be less confusion if you understood how this world works before the firelord started to question you again.”

Shiro froze and slowly his eyes widened at his meaning. “You..you know?,” he said slowly.

“That you are from another world?” Iroh asked and nodded. “Yes.”

“But how?” Shiro asked.

Iroh’s eyes hardened. “There had been theories in the past that the Spirit World is a gateway to other worlds or even universes very different from ours.” He reached out for his teacup. “Having my own experience with the Spirit World, it’s a theory I fully believe and it explains much of your behaviour and the odd armour we found you wearing.”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed. “So, you’ve never heard of Voltron?”

Iroh shook his head. “No, but let’s set that aside for the moment.” He gave a small smile. “And please call me ‘Iroh’. I do not care much for formalities these days if I don’t need to.”

Shiro’s shoulders relaxed. “In that case, I prefer being called ‘Shiro’.”

“Very well, Shiro,” Iroh said as he poured more tea into his and Shiro’s cups. “So, to ask again, what would you like to ask first?”

Shiro took the cup, took a sip as he thought and then leaned over the table. “Please explain to me what bending is?”

Iroh gave a smile as he began to answer.

--------------------------------------------

Sokka reached for the last piece of komodo chicken until Toph’s hand took it.

“Hey,” Sokka cried as he watched Toph gulp it down. “I had dibs on that.”

“Really?” Toph said as she swallowed. “I never saw it!”

Sokka glared as she grinned at her own joke before he grumbled.

She snorted as she leaned back. “Besides, you got my tart at breakfast.”

“Because you stole my snack the night before!”

“That doesn’t count! That seal jerky was way too dry!”

“That’s how you know it’s done right!”

A clearing of a throat forced both of them to stop and turned their attention to see Zuko standing in the doorway.

“I have to say, it’s a relief to see the saviors of the world to have grown up into such mature adults,” Zuko said with his arms crossed and he sat down next to Sokka.

Sokka pouted. “You jest but food is a very important discussion and- Toph if you steal my dumpling I swear!”

Zuko sighed as he resisted slapping his hand to his forehead. There were times he had wondered how these guys were some of his best friends? He glanced around and frowned.

“Katara isn’t here?”

“She had to stop by Jang Hui first,” Toph explained. “She wanted to check and see how the river restoration project there was doing.”

“Oh,” Zuko replied softly. “That makes sense.”

Katara was always very passionate about ensuring the small villages of the both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation got the assistance they needed. It was one of the reasons Zuko had managed to be popular among his lower class subjects and he couldn’t deny Katara held a huge hand in that.

“She’ll be here tomorrow morning,” Sokka replied as he frowned. “So, is everything okay? Your letter just said to get here as soon as possible.”

Zuko sighed as he tucked his hands into his sleeves. “It’s complicated, it might be better to wait until Katara is here so I can just explain it once-”

“We can just repeat things for Sugarqueen,” Toph replied as she sat up and narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”

Zuko rubbed his neck. “Intruders have been sneaking into the palace.”

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “What kind of intruders?”

“Not entirely certain but possibly assassins,” Zuko asked but quickly raised a hand, “and before you ask I’m not the target. They haven’t come after me.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Sokka muttered.

Toph tilted her head. “Then who has been the target?”

Zuko cringed. “It’s Ozai.”

Silence fell upon the room, until Toph flopped back on the floor. “Oh, is that all? I say let them.”

Sokka coughed. “Uh Toph, this is Zuko’s dad we’re talking about here.”

"Who is also the bonehead who burnt off half of Zuko's face. And also tried to burn, what was it," she snapped her fingers, "right, the entire world. I don't have any sympathy for the guy."

“Nor do I,” Zuko replied, “but I can’t sit back and let him be killed in cold blood-”

“Whoa, whoa, let’s backtrack a bit,” Sokka said as he patted Zuko’s shoulder. “When did this start?”

“A couple of months ago,” Zuko replied as Toph sat back up. “The guards located some trespassers, but they escaped. We thought they were simply thieves, but they reappeared a few weeks later.”

“And did you arrest them?” Sokka asked.

“We tried, but they got away again,” Zuko replied as he reached into his pocket and brought up a rolled up parchment. “However, one of them dropped this and it’s a map leading straight to where Ozai is being held.”

Sokka took the map and his eyes narrowed as he rolled it out. “Is it possible they were trying to free him?”

“I had wondered as well,” Zuko replied, “but the intruders were Earth Kingdom, one was even an Earth bender.”

Sokka grasped his chin. “Okay, yeah, can’t see why anyone from the Earth Kingdom would want Ozai free, but it’s not impossible.”

“If you ask me,” Toph said as she leaned forward, “the best way to find out is to let them get near Ozai. They either kill him, or they break him out and then you kill him.” She clapped her hands. “Problem solved!”

Zuko buried his face into his hands. “Toph, I can’t let them kill Ozai.”

“I still have yet to hear a decent reason why?”

“Because he is still a Fire Nation citizen,” Zuko retorted. “Prisoner or not, if I let another nation come in and kill him there’s going to be outrage.” His eyes hardened. “Some would even argue it as an excuse to go to war with the Earth Kingdom again.”

Toph paused and growled. “Alright, fine that’s a good reason.”

Zuko’s shoulders slumped. “Granted, I’m not surprised it’s come to this.”

“What do you mean?”

Zuko shut his eyes. “The other nations have been ‘requesting’ I fully punish my father.”

“But he is punished?” Sokka replied. “He’s in a cell and got his fire bending taken away by Aang.”

“To them it’s not good enough,” Zuko said.

Sokka blinked and then chewed his bottom lip. “You mean execution?”

“The diplomats here aren’t that direct,” Zuko said, “but it’s clear that’s their meaning.”

“Why are they only bringing it up now though?” Sokka said as he reached for his drink. “The war has been over for 3 years.”

“I’m guessing cause it’s been 3 years,” Toph replied, “and they figure things are settled enough for you to do something.”

Zuko nodded.

Sokka drummed his drink as he took a side way glance. “Um...have you..well consider…-”

“I can’t kill him either Sokka,” Zuko said as he stared at the ground.

Sokka sighed. “Look, I get he’s your dad-”

“It’s not just that,” Zuko replied. “Aang didn’t want him to die, remember? He’s the Avatar. How would it look if I go against what the Avatar decreed.”

Toph shut hugged her knees. “Yeah, I can see Twinkletoes not being happy with that, even if it is Ozai.”

The room went quiet for a moment, until Sokka cleared his throat and set down his drink. “Let’s put that heavy stuff aside for a moment.” He looked at Zuko. “These potential assassins, do you know anything else about them?”

Zuko’s smile brightened. “As it so happens we caught one this morning....we think.”

“You think?” Toph replied.

“He looks different from the other intruders,” Zuko continued. “He wore this weird white armour and even has a metal arm.”

“Um..if he looks different how do you know he’s connected to the others?” Sokka asked.

“We found him unconscious in the royal garden,” Zuko replied.

“That only raises more questions,” Sokka replied dryly.

Zuko shook his head. “He claims his name is Takashi Shirogane and that he is a ‘Paladin of Voltron’.”

Both Toph and Sokka gave him baffle looks.

“What the spirits is a Paladin?” Toph asked.

“No idea,” Zuko replied with a shrug.

“And where is this Voltron?” Sokka asked.

Zuko’s frown tightened. “I don’t know and I’ve looked on every Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom map I have.” He had even questioned the map maker of it, but she had never heard of the place either.

“But that’s not the weirdest thing about him,” Zuko continued as he rose.

“How is not knowing where the guy came from not the weirdest thing?” Toph asked.

“I think it’s better if I just showed you,” Zuko said as he tucked his hands into his robes.

He led down the hall, and unlocked the room where the stranger’s armor was currently spread out on the table.

Sokka raised an intrigued eyebrow as he approached and lifted up the helmet.

“Whoa, okay I’m starting to see what you mean?” Sokka asked.

“Details?” Toph grumbled.

“It’s all white with black markings,” Zuko said as he brought her hand over to touch it. “I’ve had my best engineers examine it, but they’ve never seen armour built like this before.”

None of them could even guess what nation it was from. Some had been eager to take the whole apart to better understand it, but Zuko denied the request for the time being. At least not until they had a better idea who Shirogane truly was.

Toph was silent as her eyes widened and drew back her hand. “Okay, what is this armour made out of?”

Zuko raised an eyebrow. “I would assume metal..isn’t?”

Toph grasped her chin. “Kind of, it feels a bit like metal except it doesn’t feel like there’s anything for me to grab onto. There aren’t any impurities in it.”

“The style is also weird,” Sokka said as he examined the helmet. “It doesn’t look like Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation.” He tilted his head. “At best...maybe it’s Water Tribe?”

“A Water Tribe assassin?” Zuko asked.

Sokka held it up. “It’s white, so maybe it’s for blending in the snow for sneak attacks?”

Zuko gave him a dry look. “And so he decided to wear it to the Fire Nation where it never snows?”

“I didn’t say he was a smart assassin,” Sokka continued and frowned. “Although, if I’m honest this stuff really doesn’t have a ‘here to kill’ vibe to it.”

“That’s what Uncle said too,” Zuko commented.

It was durable, but no hidden compartments for weapons. Not even a pocket for a dagger to hide. It’s as if the person wanted to clearly display they come bearing no weapons.

“So, this intruder was wearing this?” Toph confirmed.

“And unconscious,” Zuko confirmed. “He claims he means no harm, but what was he doing in the palace then? It makes no sense.”

“Well, why don’t we ask the guy,” Sokka replied as he set the helmet back on the table. “Where is he?”

“In the dungeon,” Zuko said as he turned. “I tried to ask him questions already, but I didn’t get much.”

“Well, you got the ever pervasive Sokka in your corner now,” Sokka said as he placed an arm around Zuko’s shoulder.

“And if that doesn’t work,” Toph said as she punched a fist into her palm, “just let me have a crack at him.”

“I rather his bones remain unbroken,” Zuko added dryly.

“I wouldn’t break them,” Toph said with a shrug, “well not intentionally.”

Zuko shook his head, knowing Toph was joking..well, mostly joking as he led them to the dungeon.

Ling was at the cell and stood straight as soon as she spotted them. “My lord, I did not realize you were coming-”

“At ease,” Zuko said as he raised a hand and looked into the cell. “I just merely wish to question-”

He trailed off as he stared into the clearly empty cell.

“Uh...is this the right place?” Sokka asked.

Zuko took a deep breath and shut his eyes to calm himself. He knew Ling, and she wouldn’t just stand there guarding an empty cell for no reason.

“Ling, where is the intruder?” Zuko asked.

Ling sweated. “I take it you have not been informed yet?”

“Informed of what?” Zuko asked, trying to be careful to keep his temper under check.

Ling rubbed her neck. “That your uncle insisted on inviting the intruder to lunch?”

“HE WHAT?!” Zuko cried.

“Huh,” Toph said as she crossed her arms. “I had wondered why Iroh didn’t join us.”

“Think they got extra komodo chicken?” Sokka asked.

Zuko ignored the comments as he stepped up to Ling. “Where are they?”

“In Prince Iroh’s chambers,” Ling answered.

“And you left them alone?”

“I argued I should remain, but Lord Iroh insisted,” Ling replied.

Zuko groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course he did.”

“Forgive me, my lord,” Ling said with a bow. “I should have-”

Zuko raised a hand. “It’s not your fault for following orders,” he said. “You did nothing wrong.”

Ling nodded. “Do you wish me to escort you?”

“No, thank you,” Zuko growled as he stomped away. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have a talk with my uncle about safety.”

“Before or after you murder him,” Toph snarked as she followed.

“I’m debating,” Zuko muttered darkly.

--------------------------------------------------------

This world was ‘unique’ as Shiro quickly discovered. Apparently, in this world some people had the ability to control the literal elements, and they had just ended a hundred year war. Shiro was quiet as Iroh gave him what he could only assume was a quick summary of the events.

“So, the Avatar is the only person that can control all four elements,” Shiro replied.

Iroh nodded. “Yes, Avatar Aang, who is currently the only remaining air bender from the war.”

“And the current Firelord, Zuko, helped him overthrow the previous Firelord who was his father,” Shiro repeated.

“Again, correct,” Iroh said as he grimaced. “You will have to forgive his behaviour earlier, we have been having a bit of a ‘tricky’ time with intruders lately. With your sudden appearance, it seemed to be a logical conclusion you were one of them.”

“No, I understand,” Shiro muttered as he stared into his cup. “I can imagine it wasn’t easy having to rule a nation at such a young age.”

Not to mention trying to make amends for a century-long war, Shiro thought. Willing to bet not everyone was happy with him ending the war.

“With that said,” Iroh continued as he sipped his tea, “I believe Aang would be the best person to assist you in returning home.”

Shiro frowned. “How so?”

“Earlier, when I mentioned the Spirit World? The Avatar is a natural bridge between our human world and theirs,” Iroh continued.

Shiro’s eyes widened slightly but then they narrowed. “I can understand your reasoning, but I’ve never crossed through a spirit world.”

“Are you certain?” Iroh said as lowered his cup. “All worlds have a special place where spirits dwell.” He stroked his beard. “Although, I imagine it looks very different and perhaps goes by a different name.”

Shiro shut his eyes in thought. “I can’t really think of a place-”

The Black Lion growled in his mind and an image of an endless sea of stars appeared in his head.

Shiro froze. Oh, right.

“You thought of a place?” Iroh asked.

“Maybe,” Shiro muttered as he rubbed his neck. “It might be a bit hard to explain-” “UNCLE!”

Shiro jumped, but noticed Iroh remained as still as a tree.

“Ah,” he said as he lifted his cup and sipped. “I believe that would be my nephew.”

“Nephew?” Shiro asked, but was swiftly cut off by the stomping of incoming feet. He whirled around in time to see a furious Zuko storming into the room.

His hair wasn’t as neatly as tied up as he had during the questioning and his robes were much simpler. Shiro noticed a boy in blue robes and a short girl wearing green entered.

The pair kept their distance as the Firelord locked his furious gaze upon Shiro. He looked ready to yell, but forced himself to take a deep breath.

“What are you doing in my uncle’s chambers?” he asked in a brisk tone.

Shiro blinked and then suddenly Iroh’s earlier words dawned on him. He pointed at the angry young man and turned to Iroh. “The firelord is your nephew?!”

“Why yes of course,” Iroh began but then paused as he stroked his beard. “Oh dear, did I never mention that?”

“Someone better answer me,” Zuko sharply cut in, refusing to be ignored.

“He is here because I invited him to share a meal with me,” Iroh stated calmly and shook his head. Shiro recalled his own grandfather doing inappropriate behaviour. “On that note, you are being very rude to our guest.”

Zuko choked as he kneeled next to his uncle. “Our guest?! UNCLE, HE IS AN INTRUDER!”

“Who has currently done nothing to earn such hostility,” Iroh corrected.

“Do you realize how much danger you put yourself in?!”

Iroh laughed. “I appreciate the concern but we both know I am quite capable of defending myself.”

“That is not the issue here!”

Iroh frowned. “Did you forget to eat? You are always more grumpy when you have an empty stomach.”

Zuko’s eye twitched as the two began to bicker and Shiro wondered if they had both forgotten he was present.

However, the other two people clearly hadn’t as the boy approached and sat next to Shiro.

“Hey, name’s Sokka,” the boy greeted, “and this is Toph.”

“Yo,” the girl waved.

“Um, hi?” Shiro said slowly.

Sokka pointed to the arguing uncle and nephew. “So, they’ll be at that for a bit, and I have a question.” He then pointed to Shiro’s cybernetic arm. “Who made that, and is it possible for me to get one?”

“That’s more than one question,” Shiro replied, “and unless you want to have an arm cut off I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Sokka gave a frown, but then sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”

“What are you talking about?” Toph growled as she pointed to her eyes. “Blind, remember?”

“The metal arm Zuko mentioned,” Sokka said. “It’s right next to you.”

“Got it,” Toph said and before Shiro could stop her, she placed her hand on his cybernetic arm.

Suddenly her eyes widened as she whipped her head around. “What the great spirits is this thing made out of?!”

“I just said metal-” Sokka continued.

“It’s not any metal I’ve felt,” Toph snapped and she drew back her hand and stared into it. “It’s weirder than the armour. It almost feels like a meteorite but-”

“How about we change the subject,” Shiro said gently.

Even if he wanted to answer her question, he barely knew what kind of metal his arm was made out of anyway.

Toph gave a pout, but was cut off as Zuko growled.

“Enough,” Zuko snapped and pointed to Shiro, “Shirogane’s going back to the dungeon.”

“His name is Shiro and he will do no such thing,” Iroh said calmly and grinned. “Especially when he was just about to grant me a fascinating conversation on what his world is like.”

Dead silence fell into the room as Shiro felt all the eyes slowly turn to Iroh.

“I’m sorry, what?” Sokka asked.

“Our friend here is from a world, a whole universe in fact,” Iroh continued.

Zuko took a deep breath. “Uncle, if this is a joke it is not one of your better ones.”

“It’s not a joke,” Shiro said slowly as he turned to him.

“Ookay,” Sokka replied as he raised an eyebrow and a hand, “and you are in our world because?”

Shiro sighed. “That’s where things get complicated.”

#atla #vld #voltron #vld gen #takashi shirogane #a paladin in the fire nation #my writing

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passiveinsane · 5 years ago

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2020/7/1

ATLA

Drink Some F*cking Tea by Nele | Oneshot Also on ao3

This fic is so funny, and I love that it manages to be hilarious and introspective into Iroh’s character. Anyone who’s ever heard about “go the f*ck to sleep” will have a basic idea of what this is about. There’s also a podfic.

Fractures by good_eviening | WIP

Listen- firelord Zuko. firelord Zuko who was just crowned yesterday and never met Aang. firelord Zuko who spent three years in the royal palace catacombs and tortured until someone came in one day and said "hey you're the firelord." firelord Zuko who never got a redemption arc except for pain, with palace staff that would kill and die for him. I love this so much.

Frozen by Aris Merquoni (ArisTGD) | Oneshot | AU starting from the end of S1

A tag I had for this: soft and fluffy trauma. A tag the author had for this: Sad Character in Snow. That pretty much says it all.

The [insert title here] and the Fire Lord by azenki | WIP

I laughed so hard at this, I had to construct a plot other than “fanfiction” to explain why I was laughing so much. firelord Zuko- struggling his way through rumors. Alternate title: Zuko Cannot Catch a Break.

molten core by NeonSauce | Series | AU from s2e08- “The Chase” onward | WIP

“azula lightnings zuko one season too soon and accidentally gives him Friends” -the tags. I really like the humor and the tags.

light in the dark fire nation by hermicnee

“What if everyone loved Zuko more,” said the author. “And that fixed some things.” And they were RIGHT.

For Hearth And Home by Haicrescendo

Hai’s works are all top notch, and this one- depicting firelord Zuko being Great with kid(s)- is no exception.

Little Zuko v the World by MuffinLance | WIP | AU where Zuko is 12

This is long and so very very worth it. Also, Zuko- your crew, uncle, and the gaang would like you to develop one ounce of self-preservation. Please.

Perfection is Overrated by JaggedCliffs | Oneshot

Zuko and another step in the long, hard journey to an era of peace and kindness.

Do You Hear The People Sing? by generic__username | Oneshot

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the fire nation decided “ozai sucks” and started rooting for Zuko? Hello, here’s the fic, now with 100% more Zuko nursery rhymes.

what they did to your face by hot_leaf_juice | Series | Complete

gaang finds out about the scar's origins the SERIES

Voltron

nothing's quite as sweet by dimpleforyourthoughts | Restricted work- only available to ao3 users | Oneshot

This is heralded as one of the best klance fics of all time on ao3 and honestly? Yes, it does deserve the title.

“Keith is a barista who hates his job. Lance works at the cat shelter across the street.”

if the silence was a song by angstinspace

Keith, insecurity, Lance, a radio station and late night (early morning?) talks over the phone. So wholesome it makes my heart hurt…

#fic recs #weekly fic recs #atla recs #voltron recs #and by weekly i mean it'll get done at some point in the week

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minimelo · 5 years ago

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Thanks for tagging me @trenchcoatkitten ❤

Name: Megan

Nicknames: Meg, Meggles, Dorito (a byproduct of my game tag)

Zodiac: Taurus

Height: 5'6

Language: English

Nationality: American

Favorite season: Fall!

Favorite flower: Probably Tiger Lilies but I really like Sunflowers too.

Favorite scent: Rain. Apple Cinnamon or Pumpkin Spice. The Ocean.

Favorite color: Blue

Favorite animal: Have you ever seen a Hedgehog? Or a lil Rat? Perfection. I have so many favorites

Favorite fictional character: Aizawa and Dabi (aaaaaaand the whole crew) from MHA. Keith from Voltron. Catra from Shera. Wei Wuxian from The Untamed.

Average sleep: listen, it's a constant gamble. I live my life in perpetual fatigue and Vitamin D deficiency and if that means 15 minutes or 15 hours I'll take whatever it is. There is no average. Only suffering.

Dogs or cats: Dog! Juno says hello!

Number of blankets: One big poofy one to become burrito

Dream trip: Japan!

Blog established: 2012

Number of followers: 351

Hmm I tag @rockets-and-raccoons @kickstillkickin @hrududil @sociallyawkwardmathnerd and anyone else if you guys want to do it! 💕

#these are always fun!!#thanks again for tagging me!!

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deckoftrickcards · 10 months ago

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hello voltron nation i am not done with them take some self indulgent klance yuri

#voltron #klance #keith kogane #vld #voltron legendary defender #lance mcclain #vld fanart #klance fanart #voltron legendary disappointment #voltron fanart #genderbent klance #doomed yuri #tragic yuri #i still can’t decide how i want lances hair to look i’m so lost #pixie keith is truth tho #i love lesbians

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femmescripter · 6 years ago

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Fight for the Spider-Verse

Hello, everyone. I know it’s been a long time since you’ve seen a post from me and so on. But I’ll get into all of that latter. Right now I need to inform you all of something important. Though quite a few of you may know this already. As was explained in the resent article “ Voltron Partners Not Responsible for Failures in Gay Inclusion; Sources Dispute Claim From DreamWorks Staff” by Sean Z on the site GeekDad, former showrunners Joaquim Dos Santos, and Lauren Montgomery are proven to have lied about being pro-diverse as they ran the remake series Voltron: Legendary Defender. For the first six seasons the series was doing pretty well. However when season seven began the show’s good standing quickly began to decline. Now it wallows in a low audience score. It’s even stated that both Dos Santos and Montgomery went over the heads of the creative team and didn’t even bother to ask DreamWorks representation consultants for advice, making the finale without consulting anyone. They even had the gull to say "Can be gay or a hero but not both". This in addition to many contradictions in previous interviews, delusional self-congratulatory statements about themselves despite their failure to properly represent the LGBT+ community and other things makes these two absolute disgraces to the entertainment industry. Now it’s been announced that that Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery are made as directors for the future Spider-Verse sequels! Ten years ago, hell even five years ago, I would have been too scared and weak of spirit to do or say anything. But having some so far in my writing career and my development in my skills as a writer I refuse to remain quiet. I painstakingly bust my butt whenever I create a new character for my original stories - researching various ethnic groups, nationalities, gender identities, sexual orientations, mental health conditions and religions in order to create the most accurate portrayal I can in my characters. While I’m not publishes or established as of yet I take pride in the fact that I make an effort to be as diverse with my characters as I can. And it’s helped to improve my writing, taking my skills to heights beyond my expectations. I still have a lot to learn of course but I’m better than how I started. That said I refuse to stand idly by and let this be unheard. People like Dos Santos and Montgomery make true pro-diverse content, from writers to illustrators to animators, look like we’re just including minority characters and LGBT characters in our work for the sake of earning brownie points and selling more of our work. And speaking as a pro-diverse writer that is far from the truth! I do it because I know as an honest fact that modern media today doesn’t come close to having a decent amount of proper representation for characters that come from different walks of life. Especially LGBT characters, so I felt it was only natural that I start making more diverse stories to showcase folks from different walks of life. So I’m going to write to Sony Animation about this, underlining all of the wrong doing that Dos Santos and Montgomery have done in an insulting, infuriating and just plain wrong show of false representation. I know that it’s unlikely that they’ll read my letter, led alone that I’ll make much of an impact. However that won’t stop me from trying. Revolutions have been built on less and smaller people have been heard before because they spoke louder than any of the big shots ever could. I can’t let people who basically mock EVERYTHING that makes me what I am as a writer and then be rewarded for that mockery by being able to direct a piece of cinematic art. It’s something that I refuse to let happen without a fight. So I’m going to inform Sony Animation about this and even list some other, more respectable directors who I believe would do much better in taking charge of the Spider-Verse sequels. Is it a long shot that’s probably not worth the time? Maybe. Will I let that stop me from trying? Not a chance. I wouldn’t be doing right by my profession if I just knuckled under and let this go. But I can’t do it alone. So please - if anyone is willing to try with me go to Sony Animation’s website, click on their “Contact” page and write a letter to the listed address. But please do not send any type of threat. No blackmail threats, no bribery threats, no threats to unveil/sell off future Sony projects and definitely no death threats. This will only make us look bad and undermine the message we’re trying to convey. You can be strong with your words without being threatening. It’s hard to do but it’s possible all the same. And I would appreciate help from any body in writing to Sony Animation about this. Perhaps, at the very least, we can get some notice and at least one reply from them. Like I said revolutions have been built on less. We just have to get the cement, bricks and tools needed to get the work done! Thank you all for your kind attention. Please, my fellow content creators, don’t let these boneheads disgrace our name. Tell Sony Animation that this isn’t right and to not let Dos Santos and Montgomery be apart of the Spider-Verse! Until next time, see you guys later! @cake4ninja @leeleearts @heytherechief @yourblueberrymajesty @bbb35 @punknpark @lotorserectbang @anggrishka @wakandaabitch @littlecofiegirl @bramblerose4 @brenna-ivy @captainwhishaw

#spider-verse #sony animation #joaquim dos santos #lauren montgomery #petition #protect the spiders #warn sony #do not send any type of threat

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panda-noosh · 6 years ago

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Night at the Opera {Hunk x Reader}{The Rockstars Series}

The Rockstar Series: a series of fics documenting rockstar!Voltron falling in love.

Words: 13k

Summary: Hunk plays the drums for a new, young rock band called the Smokey Saturdays. When he loses his drum stick on the night of a performance, his attempts to locate it lead him directly to you.

Genre: fluff - angst (but its light angst for once :):):) )

Warning: swearing

Notes: masterlist – a new lil mini series! they’ll all be stand-alone fics, but they’ll all belong to the same series. i hope you like it :)

---

For Hunk, there was nothing more satisfying than hearing the crowd scream his name.

Behind a closed door, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The drum sticks were heavy, held only by his index and middle finger. Despite how carefully he held them, they were an extension of his body, a part of who he was, a symbol of his identity. When people saw Hunk without his drum sticks, they got suspicious.

The crowd screaming was what always brought him to earth. It humbled him more than most people saw possible; he was a rock star. He should have been acting like one, should have been spending his money on expensive cars that he would never learn how to drive, houses that he didn't need, clothes that would just make him look stupid in the end anyway.

But no. The screams humbled him, because they were an audible reminder of what he was doing and how far he had come to get to this place. It reminded him of his mother, struggling to make ends meet when he was a boy, and his father who worked two jobs just so they could keep a roof over their heads. It reminded him of the time he himself had worked two jobs, grabbing at the chance to help his parents pay bills long before his time; as soon as his National Security had arrived in the mail, he was out looking for any and all jobs he could find.

His dream was always to be here, and the crowd crying out for him was a reminder that he had made it. Through thick and thin, he and his band mates had made it.

---

Allura was drunk again.

The band hadn't even started playing, and she was already struggling to keep her head up. You had barely gotten through your first glass of vodka and coke before you were forced to abandon all ideas of getting shit-faced drunk to make sure your best friend didn't smash her nose off the curb.

You kept one arm wrapped around her shoulders, your other hand laid on her knee in silent warning. To the untrained eye, you would have looked like nothing more than a comforting pal, making sure Allura stayed out of trouble; in reality, you were already plotting the favours Allura would owe you once you two finally got back to the dorms.

“Have they started playing yet?” Allura asked, tilting her head to see over the crowd of bustling music-lovers.

“No. Would you sit down? I don't trust you to stand up on your own right now.”

Allura snorted and you frowned; she thought you were joking.

“Allura, I'm serious. If you get any worse, I'm taking you home.”

“Home?” she shrilled, spinning around in her chair and grabbing your chin. “Threaten me like that again, Y/N, and I'll have your wrists.”

You rolled your eyes, swatting her hand away. “I think I need to get you some water.”

“And a vodka,” she said, giving you a thumbs up. You didn't give it back to her, but instead got up from your stool and started towards the bar. You had come out tonight for a good time, your first night out in months. Exams had finally finished, and the idea of staying on campus for longer than necessary had been enough to drive you out of the comfort of your own home and into the first club you could find. This one seemed particularly interesting, as it promised you a live band performance from a group called Smokey Saturdays – you didn't know who they were, but anything besides stupid techno-music would have sufficed at this point.

But, of course, things were never that simple. Allura could never let things be that simple, and you quite honestly should have known better than to trust her.

You had a headache by the time you arrived at the bar, though it was not the alcohol-induced headache you would have preferred. The music was too loud, and the crowd was too close. Quite frankly, by the time you reached the bar and had started ordering Allura's water, you were ready to turn on your heel and go home. Walking home in the pouring rain would have been better than this.

You sighed and slumped forward, running your hand over your forehead in any attempt to soothe the knot that had formed in your temple. Nothing worked. You could still hear the music, could still feel that one hand that tried to grope you before you flinched out of the way. People were still shoving you, and you were still sober – that was the worst of all.

“Hi, yeah, just a Budweiser, please.”

You glanced to the side, the presence of the man now standing beside you drawing your attention more than you cared to admit; perhaps it was because he was so tall, built unlike any other person you had seen before. He had the broadest shoulders you had ever seen, was wearing a yellow jacket and a bandanna that did little to push back his thick brown locks.

He met your eyes, and neither of you looked away for a few seconds. If it had been any other time, you would have burned in embarrassment before quickly looking away, but your current headache and your current bad mood was making you sluggish.

The man smiled before you could turn away, tilting his head to the side. “Hi there.”

You smiled back. “Hello.”

And that was the start of it. It was weird how a bit of booze and some strobe lights could make two strangers so comfortable with each other in the space of a few seconds. The man sidled over to you, sitting down on the stool by the bar before ushering for you to take the seat next to him. You hadn't even realised you had been standing, though now that the stranger had pointed it out to you, the pain stabbing through your feet became much more pronounced.

You took the seat next to him.

“You don't look like you're having an easy time,” the man said as a way to start the conversation. He flushed as soon as he said it, quickly looking away. “I mean, I saw you and your friend earlier on, and she didn't look – she was a little – uh-”

“She's pissed,” you finished. “Yeah. I don't know how she manages to get herself in that state so quickly, but she's done it tonight.”

“And you're still sober?”

“Completely and utterly sober.”

The man sucked in air between his teeth. “You're braver than I am.”

“You drink often?”

He shrugged. “It kind of comes hand-in-hand with the job.”

Your curiosity peaked, though you bit your tongue. You didn't even know this mans name yet – what was the point in learning about his occupation if you didn't even know what he was called?

“I'm Y/N,” you offered.

“Hunk,” he replied, nodding at you. “Do you come to these kind of places often?”

Your response was immediate. “No. I'm a university student – it's rare that I can actually ever afford to come to these kind of places.”

Hunk chuckled as if you were joking. “See this is why I didn't go to university. I was working before I even left high school.”

“Really?”

“Mm. I really liked school, don't get me wrong. I wasn't one of these rebellious kids who think education is for pansys – I just thought my efforts would be more appreciated outside of the classroom, so that's what I did. I dropped out and went to work.”

You pursed your lips, eyeing his side profile. He had turned back to face the bartender who was now approaching the two of you with two glasses in his hands – one filled with Budweiser, the other filled with water.

“What are you studying?”

The question jolted you out of your stupor. “Modern languages.” You shrugged. “I'm kind of regretting it, though.”

“Why? That sounds like a fun thing to study.”

“I mean, it is. I love languages, but it takes up a lot of time. It's not the kind of thing you can just . . . slack on, you know?”

Hunk nodded. You had the vague impression that he did, in fact, not know, but was too kind to say anything.

“I live with a guy who speaks Spanish. Maybe you two will hit it off if you ever meet.”

“Maybe.”

You chose to ignore the fact that you would most likely never see Hunk again after tonight, let alone his housemate. It didn't make you sad, didn't disappoint you – it was just one of those things that life did. It handed you these people for brief moments in time and then snatched them away before any kind of connection could be made – a kind of test, though you were still unsure as to what exactly the universe was testing you on.

Hunk craned his neck, looking over your shoulder. You caught the moment his small smile slipped into a frown, the moment his eyes narrowed, and you immediately knew what was looking at.

Because you heard her as well.

“Where's my Y/N?” Allura called, heard over the sound of the music and crowd. “If anyone has touched my Y/N, I'll have your wrists.”

“I think your friend is looking for you,” Hunk said, pointing. You bit your lip and turned around, catching Allura just seconds before she fell into your arms and nuzzled her head in your neck.

“There you are! Don't run off again like that, okay? You're too drunk to be left on your own.”

You grunted, reaching behind you and picking up the glass of water you had ordered. Allura looked at it as if you were offering her some kind of poison, her nose crinkling and her body flinching away from your own. You just barely managed to grab a hold of her before she could fully turn and escape.

“Drink,” you demanded, pressing the rim of the cup to her mouth.

She glared at you as you tilted the cup back and trickled the water into her mouth, though she swallowed and showed you her mouth once she was done. It reminded you of a child taking a tablet they didn't want to take – but at least she had drank it.

You turned, ready to say your goodbyes to Hunk, only to find that the man had already turned and left. You raised a brow, glancing to and fro for any sign of him – all that was left to prove he had been there at all was his unfinished drink and a wooden drum stick.

You turned back, wrapped an arm around Allura's shoulders and ushered her towards the lounge area, refusing to dwell too much on a man you knew you would never have any connections with in the future.

---

“How did you lose it? I thought them things were sewed to your god damn hand!”

Hunk groaned. This was definitely not what he needed to hear right now – yes, he had fucked up, but that didn't mean he wanted to dwell on it. He just wanted to get the situation sorted and move on.

Lance groaned, mimicking Hunk in a way that made his skin bristle. “We're on in five minutes, and you've lost the one piece of equipment you need to be any use to us.”

“Go easy, Lance,” Pidge said. “I'm sure the storage room has a spare set of drum sticks.”

“Yeah, well, you better go and get them because we're on in-”

“Five minutes,” Keith finished. “Yes, we heard you the first time. Honestly, Lance, the crowd out there is probably too drunk to care if we're a little late.”

Lance scoffed, folding his skinny arms over his chest. “Attitude like that is the reason we're not playing stadiums right now.”

“Yeah,” Keith grunted, plucking at the strings of his bass guitar. “That's the reason.”

Lance scowled, cutting Keith with a look that could kill. He didn't even turn back to Hunk when he said, “Just go and find a pair of drum sticks. We don't have time for this.”

Hunk didn't need to be told twice. At this point, he would have taken any and all excuses to get out of the backstage lounge, away from Lance and away from the suffocating aura of disappointment that never failed to make Hunk's limbs feel heavy.

He headed straight for the storage room. The one good drum stick he had left felt heavy as he twirled it in his fingers; he hated playing with unfamiliar equipment. The drum sticks he used were the source of his skill, in his mind. His grandfather had carved them for him for his twelfth birthday, and Hunk had never used another set unless he desperately needed to – right now seemed like one of those desperate occasions.

Once he gathered up an extra set of drum sticks, tested out their weight and got familiar with the length of them, he turned back and headed towards his band mates. He could hear Lance practising his vocals one final time, and then there names were being called and Hunk was forced to shove all of his doubts to the side. He instead zoned in on the sound of the crowd outside, the way they yelled his name, the way they cheered for him.

It soothed him.

The curtains opened, and the crowd erupted, and suddenly Hunk was sat behind a drum kit and there was music blasting out around him – familiar music. Music he and Shiro made together, music he had stressed over and created from the ground up because that was what he loved to do.

He lost himself both in the crowds cries and his own head. Despite the unfamiliar weight of the new drum sticks in his hands, he didn't miss a single beat. His hands knew where to go. He had played this song so many times before, and each time felt like the first. He got that same shrill of excitement that he had gotten when he first played it, that undertone of nerves that never failed to spark up his spine because this was a different crowd, and different people, and different reactions were bound to be given.

Hunk opened his eyes for the first time in the middle of the song. He hadn't even realised they had been closed. He glanced out at the crowd, flashing the boys in the front with a cheeky grin that had their eyes widening. They started shoving each other to and fro, pointing at Hunk like he was some kind of art piece in a museum.

Hunk chuckled, averted his eyes-

He saw you.

He shouldn't have been surprised, to be honest. You were at the club before – he had sat down and spoke to you, had learned very little but enough to have him interested. You weren't looking back at him. You were most preoccupied with your friend, the light haired girl that Hunk had yet to see sober.

The light haired girl had her arm wrapped around your shoulders and was singing along obnoxiously to the song. You, on the other hand, were too busy looking down at something you were holding to take much notice of the jostling girl currently swinging from your neck.

Hunk glanced down and saw what you were holding.

Oh, fuck.

His drum stick. His fucking drum stick – how had you got a hold of that?

The beat faltered for only a second, but he quickly caught himself and carried on. Lance was able to carry the mistake well, though Hunk did not miss the sly looks Keith and Pidge sent in his direction. He gave them both an apologetic smile – he could not afford to mess up even worse. Already Lance was mad at him. He would be wise to keep things as neutral as possible from here until the end of the night.

The song came to an end. Hunk slumped back in his seat, wiping the sweat already beginning to form on his brow. Lance spoke into the microphone, but Hunk had zoned out at this point; his eyes found you again. You were still holding his drum stick, only now you were more interested in trying to keep your friend away from a complete stranger with whom she looked to have taken interest in.

He needed to get it back. Even as the second song started up and Hunk got back to playing, he knew he needed to get it back. It was his. It was a part of him, had been since he was twelve years old.

How difficult could it be to go up to you and ask for it?

---

“I'm never letting you out of the house again.”

“That's the drink talking,” Allura shot back, still spurred on by her idea that you were the drunk one.

You rolled your eyes, an action you had been doing an awful lot tonight. The night was over, the bouncers coming in to announce the closing of the club. The band had been hauled off stage, and now you and Allura were stumbling outside in search of a taxi.

It would have been easy to just call one up, but it was a Saturday night, and most of the taxi places had been booked to the hilt, meaning you had no other option than to sit Allura down on the curb, pull your phone from your back pocket and start looking through your contacts. Who were you desperate enough to wake up at this time of night for a lift home?

“Did you see the singer?” Allura groaned, flopped back in the grass. “He was gorgeous. I would love a piece of that.”

“What you need is a kebab, or some cold pizza,” you replied. “Your hangover is going to be hell tomorrow morning.”

“I'm not drunk.”

“Quite honestly, I think you deserve a bad hangover for what you put me through tonight.”

Allura stuck her tongue out at you. You flipped her off before turning back to your phone and continuing to swipe through your contacts. You were a university student, had very little social life outside of classes and Allura – there was basically no one you trusted enough nor knew well enough to wake up and ask for a lift.

You hollowed out your cheeks and slumped down on the curb next to your best friend. The roads were packed full of cars leaving the night club, the paths littered with drunken stumblers and people who you didn't quite trust to get home on their own.

“I think the drummer boy liked you.”

Your looked down. “Who?”

“The drummer boy. The one behind the drums. You know – the badoom tsst.”

You winced. “I don't know who he is.”

“Did you not find him attractive?”

“I didn't get a look at him, to be honest. I was too busy stopping you from getting drugged.”

Allura pouted as if the idea of you not noticing an attractive male had somehow upset her. It was strange, considering men were usually the last thing on Allura's mind when she was sober. She was a valedictorian, concentrated purely on her grades when her brain was fresh and alert.

Now, though, the alcohol had plagued her and she had little room left in her brain for anything other than the people she had seen tonight.

As she babbled on and on about the band she had seemingly fallen in love with, you zoned out. Your sober brain could not keep up with her rantings, and so you found it easier to just ignore her. She would tire herself out eventually, and then you would try the taxi services again and see what you could do. You could hardly just stay out here all night, though you saw no other option if the-

“Are you not freezing sitting out here?”

You jolted upright, startled by the sudden voice ringing out behind you. For a second, you truly thought it wasn't directed at you – despite the crowd slowly clearing, there were still many people waiting on taxis, and many different slurred conversations going on.

You turned nonetheless, eyes widening once they trained on the man standing there. It took you a minute to remember his name.

“Hunk! You're still here!”

He nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He looked exhausted, his bandanna now lopsided on his forehead and his hair stuck to his skin by the perspiration dripping behind his ears. He still managed to look good, though your cheeks warmed at the thought. You blamed it on the tiny sip of your vodka and coke you had been able to take.

“But are you not cold?” he pushed. “Is someone coming to pick you up?”

“Not yet,” you grumbled, glancing anxiously at your phone before casting your gaze to your unconscious best friend. “But I think we'll be okay.”

Hunk hollowed out his cheeks and kneeled down. His broad shoulder brushed against your own, and you hesitantly moved over to give him room on the curb. In one hand he held a drum stick-

Your eyes widened. “Your drum stick! I completely forgot about that!”

Why you had gone back for the useless wooden stick, you would forever be clueless about, but it had seemed like the appropriate thing to do at the time. You reached into your back pocket and pulled the drum stick free, and Hunk's eyes immediately softened at the sight of it.

“Oh, thank god.”

“It's important to you?”

He plucked it from your hand. “My granddad made it for me ages ago. I thought I'd lost it.”

“Nope,” you replied, popping the 'p.' “Just misplaced it. Good thing you've got a sober friend like me to keep you in check.”

Hunk chuckled, glancing at Allura. “I don't seem to be the only one who should be grateful that you're sober.”

You rolled your eyes, nudging Allura's leg with your own just to make sure she was indeed completely out of it. “She's going to regret it in the morning. She always does.”

“Most people do.”

You looked back at Hunk. “You don't look too tipsy yourself, but you've been in there a long time.”

Hunk frowned, a look of puzzlement appearing on his face. You weren't entirely sure why – confusion wasn't exactly the emotion you would have felt at such an accusation. Nonetheless, Hunk's drawn together eyebrows and the way he pulled away a little bit spoke volumes.

“Unless you don't drink,” you added quickly. “Actually, no. You ordered a Budweiser when you were sat with me, so what secrets are you hiding, Mr Hunk?”

Hunk blinked. “Did you not see me up on stage?”

You blinked back. “Sorry?”

The frown that had pulled at his features gradually grew into an amused grin. “I'm part of Smokey Saturdays – the band that was playing tonight.”

You burst out laughing.

You didn't really mean to – it just kind of happened and you were too slow to stop it. In your defence, you didn't know you were being offensive – you genuinely thought he was joking, because how was he not?

You had spoken to him only hours before, had a normal, lighthearted conversation with him. He didn't seem like some kind of rock star, but that was definitely the type of music you had heard blasting over the speakers whilst you were busy fixing Allura's dress to make sure she wasn't showing too much.

Hunk flinched away at the sound of your laughter, his cheeks growing bright red. You hiccuped to a stop when he looked down at the ground, awkwardly glancing at his hands bundled in his lap.

“Wait,” you drawled. “You're serious?”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “That hard to believe, huh?”

You paused. “Holy shit, man.” Hunk stiffened. “You were so good!”

His head whipped round, eyes growing wide, brows shooting into his hairline. You couldn't help but giggle at this expression of shock; you nudged him.

“I'm serious,” you said, despite him not protesting. “All of you were really good from what I was hearing. How long have you been in a band?”

Hunk stuttered for only a second, clearly still trying to wrap his head around the fact that you had complimented his music. “Uh... It'll be four years this year.”

“Wow,” you mused, leaning back on the grass. Allura shifted beside you. “It must be nice. You're living the dream.”

“I'm living my dream. Your dream might be something else entirely.”

You shrugged. “I kind of just wanna, you know, make my parents proud and all that. The basic, boring dream that teenagers with no ambition usually take on.”

“It's not boring.” Hunk slumped down next to you, oddly comfortable for a person who hadn't even known your name at the start of the night. “I think making your parents proud is a very decent goal to have.”

“It's kind of universal though, isn't it? Everybody wants to make their parents proud.”

“I mean, I guess so,” Hunk mumbled. “Doesn't make it any less worth achieving. How do you think you'll make your parents proud?”

The question struck you. You thought about your father, the business he ran and the companies he pleased. He had very rarely had time for you when you were growing up, and yet here you were – eighteen years old – trying desperately to make him see that you weren't a failure, even though you had absolutely zero proof towards the fact that he ever thought you were.

Your mother was different. She was loving, caring, put her kids before anything else. She would tell you on a constant loop that she would be proud of you for just living, proud of you for just being you, and yet in the same breath she would gush to her friends about how her little darling was getting better and better at Mandarin, how you would be living in China in no time!

She just wanted to make sure you knew she was proud of you for your achievements, but it put the pressure on you as well. You had wanted to stop learning Mandarin since you were eleven years old, but your mothers constant gushing about your improvements left you feeling like you had to carry on.

“I don't know.”

You reply was short and snappy. Hunk got the message.

“My parents weren't too happy when I dropped out of college, you know.”

“You're gonna talk about this with a complete stranger?”

He shrugged. “Do you wanna hear it?”

You rolled over and leaned your head on the palm of your hand. “Go on.”

Hunk chuckled. “Well, it's true – they were raging at me for backing out of my classes. They thought I was gonna go on to university, get a degree and a job and start a family. At the time, they didn't really know how much I loved music, so they never put two and two together that I wanted to be an artist.” He coughed, choking on the word as if he was embarrassed by it. “A musician, I should say.”

“Musicians are artists.”

“Yeah, well, they didn't think I wanted to be one of those. So whenever I dropped out of college and started working little jobs around the area, they were really confused, really disappointed.” He bit his lip and glanced up at the night sky. “They warmed up to it eventually – once they realised I was finally happy.”

He said 'finally' as if he hadn't been happy before, and that broke your heart. You continued to stare at him, even when the conversation died and there was nothing else to say. It never failed to amaze you how two strangers could meet on a night out, and how the effects of alcohol and good music could somehow ease a tension that really should have been there. Hunk was a complete stranger currently pouring his heart out to you, and yet you felt as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

You opened your mouth to say something – anything – but the words that rang out across the yard were not your own. They belonged to a shrill male voice, anger seeping in through every syllable.

“Hunk Garrett, you are on your final god damn warning!”

Hunk closed his eyes, inhaled deeply before reaching towards you and snatching his drum stick from your hand. “I think that's my cue to leave.”

Allura stirred, groaned your name in her sleep. “Yeah. I think I've just gotten my cue, as well.”

Hunk shot you a final, tipsy smile before he hesitantly reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. You stared at it for only a second before grabbing on to what he wanted – you quickly punched your number into his contacts and watched him leave, walking towards a skinny, tanned man who didn't look far from a mental breakdown.

Allura's head suddenly slammed down on your knee. “Are we home yet?”

---

Despite exams being over, there was no sign of the work load slowing down.

The day after the night club incident, you had been in perfect condition to pull yourself from your bed and go to class. Allura, on the other hand, did not show up for any of them. You hadn't expected anything less, and visiting her that evening gave you the answer you had known, but had wanted confirmed nonetheless.

She was still asleep, a cup of water and a strip of paracetomal sat untouched on her bedside table.

The days had passed slowly after that. Allura continued to scold you for letting her get so drunk, continued piecing the night together in tiny little snippets that she recalled for you to confirm; she had asked you multiple times if she had lost her earring in the girls toilets, and no matter how many times you told her that she hadn't gone to the toilets through the entire night, she refused to let the subject drop.

The one thing she didn't ask you about was Hunk. You were certain she didn't remember, considering she had been passed out when he approached you. The fact that she didn't remember was more of a relief than anything else; you didn't really want to explain everything to her just yet. For some reason, you wanted to keep Hunk a secret, something good that you had experienced that night.

“Studying already? Did exams not finish, like, two weeks ago?”

You looked up, pen hanging idly from your mouth. Allura was already sitting down across from you, a flask of hot chocolate in her hand. You knew it was hot chocolate, because it was always hot chocolate.

“Mrs Averell gave us a Spanish test,” you replied. “So if you're here to distract me, I don't have time for it.”

“Alright, tell me how you really feel,” Allura grumbled. “I'll have you know, I just came to make sure you'd eaten. I know how you get when you're cooped up in the library all day.” She slid a pre-made chicken wrap in your direction and you smiled gratefully. “But also, I do have some questions. Bits and pieces are coming back to me, and I'd appreciate your input.”

You groaned. “Allura-”

“If I remember correctly, there was a really hot singer that was on stage at some point,” she pushed on, waving your groan to the side. “I want to meet up with him.”

You raised a brow. “You want to meet up with the lead singer of a rock band you saw once when you were black out drunk?”

“Clearly I wasn't drunk enough to forget him,” she said. “Which is a sign, I think.”

You scoffed, ignoring your Spanish vocabulary notes to examine your friend – you just wanted to see if she was serious or not. It was one thing being in love with a singer and wanting to talk to them, but a completely different thing to think you could actually do it.

“You're looking at me like that again,” Allura huffed. “I wish you'd have more faith in me. If I wasn't so drunk the other night, he'd have proposed to me by now.”

“Is that right? Can you tell me his name?”

Allura pursed her lips. “I need your help finding him so I can also find out that information.”

“It's a fairly important detail to know.”

“You were sober the entire time!” Allura exclaimed, slapping her hands against the table. The librarian cut a sharp glance in your direction, and Allura gave her one of her careless, charming smiles to soothe her before she got out of her seat and swatted you in the head with her newspaper.

She span back round and lowered her voice. “If you even just remember the name of the band, we can Google it and get all the answers we need.”

“You're starting to sound like a stalker.”

“I don't want to track him down. I just wanna see when their next show is, and hopefully stay sober for it.”

“Have you got the time or the money to go to another one of their shows?”

“When did you get so fucking boring?”

“It's not about being boring, Allura, it's the fact that the last time we went out, you basically left me for dead.” You folded your arms over your chest, tapping the pen against your chin. “And honestly, I have tests coming up, and I just don't think-”

Your phone went off before your sentence could continue. Allura used your sudden falter in speech to barrel on with her own argument as to why she needed to go, and how you only lived once, and how tests could always be retaken but a chance to go to a concert was a once in a life time opportunity.

You blocked her voice out when you looked down at your phone and caught sight of the text message that had just showed up on screen.

hey! Hunk here. sorry if this is sudden. I didn't know when the right time to text you would be. was just wondering if you wanted to go for coffee sometime in the week? x

It was the kiss that struck you.

He put kisses at the end of his sentences. Tiny little x's, like some high school girl.

And you smiled at it.

Allura coughed. “Excuse me. Are you even listening to what I'm saying?” You scooped your phone up, and tapped on his message, raising a hand in silent plead for Allura to be quiet for a second. She huffed, folding her arms over her chest, looking away as if you had insulted her.

You quickly typed back your response.

hola. coffee sounds fantastic. time and place?

You debated whether or not to send a kiss back, but it seemed like too much of a lie; you never sent kisses. That was Hunk's thing, and you were happy enough to let him take that for himself.

You looked back up at Allura and grinned. “I'll try and find out the name of that lead singer for you, alright?”

Her eyes widened. “Wait, what? What the hell changed your mind?” She glanced at your phone and shot forward. “He isn't texting you right now, is he? How did you get his number?”

“I don't have his number.”

“So he has yours?”

“If you keep talking, I'm taking my promise back.”

Allura grinned from ear to ear, grabbed you and pressed a kiss to your cheek. You simply slumped against her, looking down at your phone as the tiny bubbles appeared, indicating Hunk was replying.

tomorrow when you've finished with classes? x

You replied with that sounds amazing.

Again, you skipped the kisses.

---

You skipped last class.

You claimed it was just because there was nothing planned. You had been given no homework, had no test to study for, and so you allowed yourself a bit of a break by skipping German entirely.

In reality, it was purely because you wanted to see Hunk a little sooner.

As you walked down the street towards the coffee shop, you said a tiny little thank you to whoever was listening that you had stayed sober that day at the night club. Without your sobriety, you probably would have been an awkward mess right now. Meeting up with someone you had spoken to whilst in a haze caused by alcohol was risky business, and not something you were particularly fond of.

But you had been sober, remembered Hunk's personality clear as day. He was a nice fellow, and you remembered the way the conversation had rolled so freely between you two. Sure, part of it had to do with whatever magic a night out cast upon antisocial university students like yourself, but you trusted your own intuition enough to not let such a factor bring your confidence down.

You arrived at the coffee shop and saw him immediately. He was difficult to miss, what with his towering frame and broad shoulders. He looked cleaner now than you remembered him last, his hair washed though he still tied a bandanna around his forehead. The knot peaked out from beneath his brown mess of hair, and he fiddled with it awkwardly as he waited for his order to be made.

You appeared beside him, not saying a word until you had examined the menu. “I think I'll have a tea.”

Hunk jumped, swirling round at the sound of your voice. “Jesus Y/N! When did you get there?”

“A few seconds ago,” you replied, eyes still narrowly pointed at the menu. “A tad bit offended you didn't wait on me before you ordered, but I don't want to start this off on a bad foot, so I'll let it pass.”

Hunk scoffed, easing up at last. “The fact that you scared the shit out of me already starts this off on a bad foot.” He winced, glancing at you. “You don't mind cursing, right? 'Cause I can stop if you-”

You waved a dismissive hand, unable to hide the amused smile forming on your features. That was such an oddly sweet thing to say – not something you expected from a man who claimed to be a rock star.

The two of you collected your orders and made your way to a table by the window. It allowed you to look out at the passers-by, people in coats that engulfed their faces and were fighting desperately against the wind. There was an array of ear phones and stressed out university students – campus wasn't far, so you weren't surprised to see an ocean of open laptops and tired, familiar faces surrounding you.

But Hunk was the one person you could really concentrate on.

“So what time did you finally manage to get home at after the night club?” he asked.

“Shortly after three,” you replied, and he inhaled sharply. “Allura woke up not long after you left, and she was adamant that she was starving to death, so we had to stop off at McDonalds before she started throwing a tantrum.”

“Sounds like a great time. I would have enjoyed a McDonalds after a night like that, as well.”

You scoffed. “Your night and my night were very different experiences, pal, I can tell you that much.”

“Not drastically different.”

You raised a brow. “You were performing in front of the entire club, and I was trying to dodge my best friends vomit most of the night.”

Hunk wrinkled up his nose and took a casual sip of his coffee. “I suppose that's a bit of a difference.”

“I agree.”

And so the conversation took off from there. It was strange how quickly the two of you were able to click, how the conversation just seemed to fall into place despite the layers upon layers of mystery this man still held. They were layers you wanted to uncover, and so you questioned him about the most trivial of things just so you could figure out a bit more about him.

You learned that he lived with his mum and dad, but his grandmother lived with him as well, and so did his cousins and his older brothers and sisters, and his younger brothers and sisters, as well as a family dog and some guinea pigs who he gushed over for a good amount of time. You found out that he enjoyed cooking, and the only thing he really spent his small riches on was grand food and bills. You learned that he dropped out of college so he could help keep his family afloat, and it was then that the conversation took a bit of a sadder turn.

It wasn't like you minded. You leaned forward, hand perched on your chin and eyes focused on him. Your tea had long since started going cold in the oversized mug the coffee shop always prepared for you, but you didn't care – you were grabbing on to each and every word he was saying, afraid of zoning out too long and missing a detail.

Hunk had only just finished describing his second job before he stopped, turned to you and said, “And what about you? What's your family like?”

You recoiled immediately.

It wasn't like you disliked talking about your family – there was nothing wrong with them. Nothing they could change, anyway. Sure, your dad had been a little distant and you sometimes felt like second best when it came to you and your older brother, but those were delusions that had formed in your hormonal brain because that's just what happened when a person became a teenager.

Nonetheless, the question struck you. In comparison to how Hunk had described his family – the love he held for them all, how he had risked everything just to make sure they were alright and stable – the way you would talk about your own was almost not worth it.

You coughed and looked down into the depths of your tea; there was no special ingredients in it, nothing but classic milk and sugar. “They're busy people.”

Hunk raised a brow, waited a moment to see if you would elaborate. When you didn't, he nodded and said, “What do they do?”

“My dad works for some massive phone company, and my mums a nanny,” you replied. “She was a stay-at-home mum for a few years, but then I grew up and she didn't need to stay at home all the time, so she got a job as a nanny. Swapped us out, if you will.”

You laughed at your joke, but Hunk took a minute to realise it had, in fact, been a joke. You cringed at your own humour. You often did this, laughed at your own self-depricating jokes before realising how they must have sounded to other people.

“Of course I'm kidding,” you hastened to add. “She loves all of her kids, really.”

Hunk nodded. “I didn't doubt that for one minute.”

Shit. You had made it awkward. You looked around for some conversation topic to drag you out of the gutter, but the only thing that came to mind was Allura – she would be perfect in this situation, batting her eyelashes and giggling to pass off her comments as friendly jokes. She was always so good at that.

You lurched forward. “Oh! I've been meaning to ask you!”

Hunk reeled back. “What? What is it?”

“Who's that singer boy who was up on stage with you at the club?”

Hunk's face fell, forehead relaxing and eyes softening. “Oh. Lance. That was Lance.”

“Lance.” You nodded, slowly leaning back in your chair. “Do you mind giving me his number?”

“S-sure.”

You grinned, taking a long sip of your tea. “You're the best.”

---

Allura was waiting for you in your dorm.

You raised a brow, letting the door swing open and bash against the wardrobe placed behind it. “What have I done to be cursed by your presence after such a peaceful day?”

Allura threw a pillow at you. You caught it, bundled it beneath your shirt and flopped down onto the floor, groaning with exhaustion.

“Tell me what happened then,” she pushed. “Did you find out who the singer was?”

“Oh yeah,” you replied, pulling your phone from your back pocket. “And I got his number.”

The silence that followed was most out of character. You glanced up to see Allura had gone pale, her eyes focused on you yet they were wide, and her eyebrows were very nearly touching her hairline.

“Y-you what?”

“His number,” you repeated, shaking the device in front of her. “Do you want it or not? It's taking up my contact list, and I need to delete it before-”

Allura dived towards the end of the bed, landed on her stomach and snatched the device from your hands. You chuckled, rolling onto your back so you could watch her – she was like a child on Christmas, scrambling into a sitting position, folding her legs and grinning from ear to ear. She grabbed her own phone and punched the number into her contacts list before squealing and hugging her iPhone to her chest.

“How did you get his fucking phone number?” she exclaimed, eyes still squeezed shut.

“I have some contacts,” you replied as if it was no big deal, but it was. You thought of Hunk, what it felt like talking to him, how much you wanted to see him again. The coffee date had ended abruptly after you had asked for Lance's number, but you assumed it was just because Hunk had finished his coffee, and there was no point in sticking around. You would be lying to claim you weren't disappointed that the two of you hadn't gone somewhere else to talk some more, but Hunk was a musician and you were a student – you both lived hectic lives, and you needed to respect that if you wanted your friendship with him to grow further.

“You know all them times I told you I hated you?” Allura said. “I didn't mean any of them. I love you so much. You are my moon and stars, my sun and flowers, my water and food, the light of my-”

“Can you get out of my room now so I can get in my pyjamas and go to bed?”

Allura raised a brow. “It's six pm.”

“Mm.” That was the only response you needed to give. Allura rolled her eyes, pressed a kiss to your cheek before she skipped into the hallway. You heard her squealing the entire way to her room, before the slam of her door cut off the sound of her happiness.

You grabbed your discarded phone and pulled up Hunk's contact. You had no qualms about texting a boy first, though your heart did fall a little bit at the lack of messages from him – you were hoping he was the type of boy who would ask if you got home safe or something cheesy like that.

You guessed that was only ever in the movies and didn't let yourself feel too let down.

You quickly typed a message to him: had a great time. would love to meet up again soon. just tell me when you're free and we can organise something :)

A smiley face certainly wasn't a kiss, but hopefully Hunk got the message that you were getting a little bit bolder.

---

The next time you saw Hunk, it wasn't on purpose.

It wasn't exactly fate, either, considering neither of you seemed to be prepared to see the other person. You were dressed in a pair of sweats and an old, baggy t-shirt that still had pizza stains on it from your last sleepover with Allura. You were carrying an old newspaper, a crushed spider indented on the cover, and was making your way towards the bin with a pair of slippers on your feet.

Hunk just looked startled.

He was walking past, so there really should have been no reason for him to look so shocked. You met eyes with him, looking up at the exact same time, and he just shut down. You started to smile, as was your natural reaction to seeing the person you had wanted to see for the past week and a half, but he did not return it. His eyes widened, his mouth opening in what you hoped was a greeting-

But then he quickened his pace, ducked his head down and tried to walk past you.

Call you an over-achiever. Some may even go as far as to say you were desperate, but when something didn't add up, you didn't just leave it to fester in the back of your mind. You already had too much stress on your plate to afford any more over a boy – if you wanted answers, you were getting them.

“Hey, wait. Hunk!”

He stopped. He may have made his rush clear, but he wasn't rude enough to ignore your outward acknowledgement.

You rushed to catch up to him, placing a hand on his arm. “Is everything okay?”

“I've got some place to be, Y/N,” he replied. “Band practice and stuff.”

You raised a brow, stomach churning at the clear lies he was telling. You knew they were lies, because Allura and Lance had been texting for a little over a week now, and the two of them were due to meet up in an hours time. If Hunk had band practice, Lance would be there, too.

You swallowed thickly, letting your hand slide off his arm. “Oh, right. That sounds fun.” You couldn't think of anything else to say. Your confidence had completely diminished.

Hunk tried for a smile, but it was forced. “I'll see you around, okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.” Hunk turned to leave when you remembered something else. “Oh, Hunk! You never answered my last text message.”

He nodded. “I'll get on that as soon as I can. I'm an awful texter. Sorry.” And then he was scuttling off again, leaving behind no reason as to why he was lying, why he wanted to be away from you so badly, why he was completely ignoring you.

---

It hurt knowing you had done something wrong, but not being able to pin point what exactly what something was.

You sat in the library with your laptop open in front of you. A German documentary was pulled up on the screen, and you were trying so hard to listen through your headphones, but you couldn't concentrate. Your fluency was melting out of your brain, and you continued to stare aimlessly at the animals darting across the screen. The German voice-over wasn't even filtering through your brain at this point.

The only thing you could fully concentrate on was Hunk. Hunk. Hunk Garrett. Stupid Hunk with his stupid drum sticks and his stupid bandanna and that stupid smile that had won you over one night when you were meant to be drunk but had been sober instead.

Oh, how you wished you had been drunk.

You shouldn't have expected anything less. In fact, you shouldn't have expected anything at all. Hunk was a rock star, was slowly making his way into the public eye with his music and his charms – you had barely finished university, couldn't even see graduation at the minute. You had a Spanish test to study for. Hunk had band practice. You had an older brother to FaceTime just to make sure he was still alive. Hunk had fans to reply to in his Instagram DM's.

Maybe it was your fault at the end of the day. That was the most likely scenario; the one you were most scared to face usually was.

You screwed your eyes closed and pressed your fists into them, as if doing so would somehow push the events of the previous days back into your skull. Maybe if you closed your eyes tight enough, they would cease to exist and you could go back to normal. You could function like a normal human being who wasn't plagued with uncertainty.

Your headphones were yanked from your head. “Y/N L/N, you've been hiding on me again!”

“Go away, Allura.”

She didn't.

“Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?”

“I had toast, actually.”

“Aren't you special.” She sat down and placed a piece of paper on the table. “Read it and thank me immediately.”

You glanced over at what she was trying to show you – tickets, printed on a single piece of paper. Two of them, both of them stamped with 'Backstage Pass' on the front.

You knew what it was. You weren't stupid, and with the events of the past few weeks, there was no secret as to what band it was you were going to be spending time with backstage.

You flicked the piece of paper back in her direction. “Can't go. Sorry.” She spluttered, catching the tickets before they could touch the floor, as if the library carpet would somehow make them less authentic.

“Are you serious?” she hissed. “I didn't even tell you the date yet, so you can't use the excuse that you have a test or something.”

“I don't want to go. That's my excuse.”

“You're having a laugh. It's not funny.”

“I'm not kidding. Why can't you just let it drop? I'm sorry I'm not as obsessed with this new band as you are.”

Allura scoffed. “You don't have to go for the music! I want you to go because you're my best friend, and I don't want to be stuck back stage with a bunch of sweaty guys all on my own.”

“So you want me to suffer along with you?”

“I want you to put your stupid pride aside and realise that you can do stuff for other people once in a while.”

You spiralled on her. “How can you say that? Did you forget that I was the reason you didn't get drugged back at that night club the other night? I was the one who got you Lance's phone number in the first fucking place. I'm the one who paid your water bill last month, and-”

“And here I am, thinking I'm doing something nice for you, and you're turning me down.”

“The nice thing for you to do right now would be to let the subject drop and go on your own.”

Allura groaned, throwing her head back. “Y/N, I want to see Lance.”

“Then see Lance. I'm not stopping you.”

“And Lance wants to see you.”

You froze.

Lance McClain, lead singer of Smokey Saturdays, voice of an angel, bilingual and dreamy in all the right ways. It was no secret as to how Allura had ended up head over heels for him – he was everything a young, impressionable rock fan would want in a boyfriend.

So why he wanted to meet you was a complete mystery.

Allura took your silence as a chance to push her argument further. “Now, don't get it twisted. He doesn't want to shag. He just wants to meet you, because I told him about how you got his number and everything. He said he saw you with Hunk back at the night club, and the two of you seemed to be getting on well. It would be a delight for you to go.”

You bit your bottom lip – so Allura now knew about Hunk. She now knew that you and the drummer had some kind of relationship, no matter how small she thought it was. No matter how small it really was, because one coffee date and a few flirty text messages weren't enough for you claim that you and him had anything more than a tense back and forth.

But then you thought of Lance, and Allura, and how much this backstage experience would mean to her. She got on your nerves. More often than not, she raked at your patience until you were snapping into genuine anger, but she was your best friend and that was just how your relationship had always been.

You turned to look at her. For the first time in a long time, she looked genuinely desperate. She was clutching her phone in her hand, looking at you with wide eyes, her lower lip pouted because she was Allura, and there was no way she could make herself look serious for a minute too long – god forbid somebody think she was emotionally vulnerable.

But you saw through the dramatised pouted lip and sighed, running a hand through your hair. “Fine. I'll go.”

Her eyes widened, body lurching forward and arms wrapping around your neck. “Ayy, my hero! I knew you'd give in eventually!”

“Watch it.”

“We're gonna have the best time. Just you wait and see.”

---

You looked at yourself in the rear view mirror as best as you could; it was pointless. You could still only get a good look at your face and neck, both of which did not look too spectacular considering you had refused to put any effort into your appearance at all.

Allura had come wearing her flowery yellow summer dress, despite the fact that it was pitch black outside and cold enough to have frost clinging to the concrete. She drove with her back poised straight, and you winced every time she looked at herself in the rear view mirror – because she did it much too often for someone who was behind the wheel of a vehicle.

You arrived at the venue a little earlier than you had been anticipated, but the bouncers let you in with no hassle – apparently Lance had pre-warned them of your arrival, had ordered them to send you both straight to the rehearsal room as soon as you arrived.

Allura left your side the moment she saw Lance, despite her earlier promises to stay by you. You weren't surprised, which was why you merely rolled your eyes, tucked your hands into the front pocket of your hoodie and cowered away into the corner.

The whole band was here. Everyone except Hunk.

The two bassists were lounging on the sofa, legs tangled together. The girl – Pidge, you believed her name was – had no shoes on and was idly drawing letters into the other bassist – Keith's – leg. He glared at her, sent a kick to her thigh but Pidge continued.

She pulled away, looked at him with a squinted eye and said, “Now guess what I wrote.”

“Would you just-”

“Everyone, stop your arguing!” Lance exclaimed, gaining the attention of the entire room. He had an arm wrapped around Allura's waist and a smile on his face that Allura mimicked – clearly they had missed each other in their disastrous week apart. “I want you all to meet Allura, the girl I was telling you about before.”

Keith grunted. Pidge had the decency to at least raise her hand and utter a small, “Hello,” before she went back to annoying Keith.

Allura turned to you then, reached an arm out in your direction. “And this is my friend, Y/N. I brought them along for the experience, you know.”

“The experience of what? Watching Lance freak out about the smallest thing five minutes before the show?” Keith said.

Pidge held up a hand. “On the bright side, Hunk got that drum stick back.”

“And it was only because of Y/N that he did,” Lance chimed in, the perfect little diversion into your introduction. There was no backing out now; all eyes were trained on you, and you would do nothing more than make yourself look like an idiot if you were to duck away from their gazes now.

So, you stepped out of the shadows and waved, trying to seem more confident than you felt. You expected Hunk to walk through the door at any moment now, and the thought was more terrifying than you cared to admit or acknowledge; it was stupid. Hunk wouldn't do anything. He was a nice bloke. Even when it was clear that he was mad at you – for whatever reason – he still tried to be civil. He still lied through his teeth just to stop you from losing your head.

“Evening,” you muttered.

“So this is the Y/N Hunk was telling me about,” Pidge spoke up. “The one he was telling us all about.”

“Oh, really?” you said, glancing over at Allura in desperation. You needed her to get the memo, to understand that you wanted to leave.

She was too busy looking at Lance, swiping her thumb across his bottom lip and pretend-scolding him for having garlic mayo on his face.

“Yeah, really,” replied Pidge. “He should be around here somewhere. Last I checked, he went to go and make sure the peddles for the drum kit were adjusted right.”

“He doesn't need to rush himself if he doesn't want to. I can – uh – I actually need to go to the-” Your attempt at an escape was cut short when the door behind you was pushed open.

You didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

“There he is!” Pidge exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. “Hunk, look who came to visit!”

Hunk was silent. You didn't turn to look at him, because you were too afraid of what you would see. It was one thing seeing him in passing on the street, catching a tiny glimpse of his anger, but it was different when you had nowhere to escape to and still no answers to confide in. You weren't sure you would be able to sit down with him and pretend like nothing had happened.

“Y/N,” Hunk said after realising that he had an audience. “Who gave you a backstage pass?”

“Me, you idiot, and it really shouldn't have been,” Lance scolded. “If you wanted to see them so badly, you should have been giving them a backstage pass. I had to take matters into my own hands.”

“Honestly, there's no need for-”

Hunk cut you off. “Yeah, sorry. That was my fault, but I guess they liked the gift from you.”

The words sounded cold, though you couldn't quite pinpoint why. You risked a glance over your shoulder, watching the way Hunk angrily stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat – he had dressed up nice for todays show, rocking a black blazer with a white shirt beneath it, the first few buttons undone to reveal chest hair you hadn't noticed before.

He just looked mad, and it was frustrating you to no ends that you couldn't figure out why. It was clearly because of you. He wasn't making that a secret. He was taking the passive-aggressive route rather than outwardly scolding you, but you weren't stupid and you could see when someone was mad at you.

You gritted your teeth and turned back to Allura and Lance. The two of them were dangerously close to kissing, but Allura's eyes snapped round to your own when she noticed you staring at her.

“I'm going to the bathroom.”

You didn't wait for someone to stop you. You darted off towards the back door, pushing past Keith's feet and closing the door fiercely behind you. Pidge's voice echoed behind you, asking what was wrong with you, but you didn't wait around to hear a response. You headed directly for the bathrooms, following signs that were hung up from the roof.

You leaned over the sink and looked up at your reflection; fuck him. Fuck him, and fuck feelings and fuck everything. The night was turning out to be just like the night at the club – you had come out wanting to have a good time, that small flicker of hope keeping you on your toes, but you had been proven foolish by something as small and simple as Hunk Garrett. A man who had been in your life for only two months, who had texted you and flirted with you and made his feelings towards you so obvious for the first few days, only to completely backtrack for a reason you were still unsure of.

You were proud of yourself for keeping it together. It would have been easy to spin on him and demand answers then and there, and god you wanted to, but you bit your tongue because that was what the others in the room deserved. It was what Allura deserved.

And so, you continued to do just that. You pressed some water into your face, closed your eyes and waited it out, hoping that the bathroom would be a good enough hiding place for you to stay in until you could leave and go home.

---

Hunk blinked, watching the door swing closed behind you.

Fuck, you were beautiful.

That was the first thought that had come to his mind when he saw you standing there. Your back was to him, but he remembered your face almost instantly because it was the only thing he thought about. Your smile, and the way you had constantly raised your brows at him and questioned him on everything he said – you had been so interested in everything he told you, and he felt so good just spilling his entire life story to somebody who seemed to genuinely care.

You were beautiful, even when you were angry at him, and he hated that that was the one thing he could think of because it drove him further into his own head and made him question his own actions even further.

“What the hell is wrong with them?” Pidge asked as the door slammed closed, but nobody replied. Keith's mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. Lance and Allura were sharing a glance between each other, though neither of them moved to go after you.

That made Hunk mad. Why was no one going after you?

He stepped forward, made towards the door but Keith kicked a foot out before he could get very far.

“Not so fast, big guy,” he said. “It sounded like your little friend was mad at you. I don't know if they want to see you right now.”

Hunk gritted his teeth. “Someone needs to make sure they're alright.”

“Y/N will do fine on their own,” said Allura. “But please inform me on what happened, because I feel like shit right now.” She turned to Lance. “I made them come here even though they didn't want to.”

Hunk closed his eyes, let out a shaky breath he forget he had inhaled in the first place. It was no secret to him why you hadn't wanted to go – he had been a douchebag, but he had his reasons.

“I think they're mad at me because I ghosted them a little while back,” Hunk said.

The room fell quiet, waiting for him to elaborate.

He sighed, ran his hands through his hair. “They wanted Lance's number, for crying out loud! What was I supposed to do?”

Again, his comment was followed by silence.

He looked around, feeling his cheeks grow warm with the attention. “What?”

“What does Y/N wanting Lance's number have to do with anything?” Keith asked.

Hunk blinked. “Well, it was obvious they were more interested in Lance than me...”

Allura spluttered, lurching forward. Lance's grip visibly tightened on her waist to stop her from throwing herself at Hunk entirely. “No way.”

“What? What's wrong?” Lance asked.

Allura shook her head, swatting Lance's hands away. Her eyes continued to bore into Hunk's, wide and unreadable. “You're having a laugh.”

Hunk awkwardly shuffled. “I'm confused...”

“Y/N was asking you for Lance's number because I asked them to get it for me.”

Hunk blinked. Surely he had heard her wrong.

Allura continued shaking her head, now weasling her way out of Lance's grip and coming to stand next to Hunk. She was half his size, but that didn't mean the smack she sent to his arm hurt any less. He flinched away from her, eyes wide. Keith burst out laughing whilst Pidge was still looking between him and the door as if she couldn't quite believe the drama unfolding before her.

“You ghosted my best friend because you thought they were interested in my boyfriend?” Allura shrilled. “God, can boys get any stupider?”

Pidge raised her hands above her head. “This is the question I've been asking for years.”

Hunk shook his head, too busy focusing on what had just been revealed to care about the fact he'd just been called stupid. “They didn't want to date Lance?”

“Of course not! Y/N went out for coffee with you, you idiot, not Lance.”

Hunk was already making his way towards the door. “Jesus christ. I messed up. I messed up big time. I need to – Did they go to the bathrooms?”

“I think so,” Keith replied. “Go get 'em, Prince Charming.”

Hunk rushed down the hall, not caring that the show was starting in nine minutes.

---

The bathroom door opened, and you were not prepared to see Hunk standing there.

You jolted upright, struggling to wipe the tears from your face before he saw them. “Christ, Hunk! Give a person a little bit of privacy, will you?” He didn't answer. He simply shook his head, closed the door and walked over to you. You shied away from him, still trying desperately to make it seem like you hadn't been shamefully sobbing over a boy for the past ten minutes – that would look stupid, would make you look weak, and you did not want that.

Not whenever the boy who had made you weak was standing right there.

“What do you want?” you asked. “You have a show soon.”

Hunk slid down the wall and sat next to you. “I don't care.”

“Is that rock star speak for 'I've been sacked?'”

“It means, I don't care.” He fixed his eyes on the side of your head. “You could have told me the reason why you asked for Lance's phone number, you know.”

You froze. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I thought you were asking for Lance because you were interested in him. That was why I got so hostile all of a sudden.”

Aaaaaand, it all clicked into place.

Your eyes snapped open, the tear stains now forgotten as you trained your gaze on Hunk. He smiled shyly, nodded as if to say I know right. It was that simple this entire time.

“No,” you spluttered out. “Hunk, tell me you're joking.”

He winced, drawing his shoulders up around his chin. “I wish I was-”

You burst out laughing before he could get another word out, throwing yourself into his side and grasping for his jacket to keep yourself stable. Hunk grunted, but his fingers wrapped around your wrist nonetheless.

“Awk, that's adorable!” you exclaimed. “You thought I liked Lance!”

“Well, you didn't exactly lead me to believe any differently!”

“Was me agreeing to your cute little coffee date not enough to get my point across?”

Hunk flushed, looking away as he mumbled, “It wasn't really a date...”

“It could have been a date,” you said, tugging on the lapels of his blazer. “If you hadn't gotten so pressed and cut it short.”

Hunk rolled his eyes, but you saw the smile taking over his features, and it warmed your heart in a way that both terrified you and excited you at the same time. You had never felt like it before, but you had read about it in books, seen it in movies. It always seemed so far-fetched, but you were beginning to understand it now.

Maybe it was mixed in with the relief. It had to be. Relief that Hunk had finally seen the truth, relief that he had come after you at all, because he very easily could have got his point across by just leaving you to rot in the bathroom until the show was over.

But he hadn't. He was sat beside you right now with his fingers wrapped around your wrist and his shoulder pressed against yours, and he was smiling because you had made him smile and perhaps that was the most accomplishing thing you had done in a long time.

You slowly pulled away from him, releasing his jacket despite him not yet releasing your hands. He kept them pressed to his chest, his eyes moving with you as you leaned back against the wall.

“So what now then?” you asked, voice quieter than you had meant it to be but it felt like you couldn't help it.

“Whatever you want,” he replied, as if it was that simple.

“I'm not good at responsibility, Hunk. You shouldn't leave that kind of question to me.”

“I don't want to shoulder it, either.”

You flicked your gaze up at him. “How about you think it over during your show, and I'll do the same. After your performance, we'll reconcile back at camp and see what we've decided.”

Hunk looked back at you. “What if we disagree?”

“Then we'll have our answer, won't we?”

---

The show was magnificent, as you had expected.

Allura was crying by the third song, because the second song was a ballad that Lance sang entirely staring at her. You had rolled your eyes, looked up at Hunk to see he was giving Lance the exact same disgusted look you had given Allura a few seconds prior.

By the end of the set, though, you were fairly certain you had shed a few cheeky tears as well, but you covered them up better than Allura did. Allura wasn't one for subtlety, and Lance hadn't even fully gotten off the stage before Allura was crashing into him and hugging him as if he was about to go off to war.

You were the first one in the backstage room. Allura and Lance had disappeared – you didn't even want to guess where to – and nobody else had bothered to come and collect their things just yet. You assumed they were all going to celebrate – maybe Hunk had gone with them. You wouldn't blame him. The show had been incredible, and it was what he deserved. Nonetheless, you couldn't dispel the slight disappointment in the pit of your stomach at the idea that maybe he had forgotten about your little deal. Or worse. Maybe he just knew the two of you would disagree, and that was that. He didn't even want to see you to confirm it, so he had-

The door to the backstage room opened, and Hunk entered.

He was dripping in sweat, and his bandanna was gross, and his hair was gross and his clothes were gross, but he looked perfect for a reason you couldn't pinpoint. You could imagine your mother now, scolding you for going after the shabby bad boys who she always steered you away from when you would walk through the estate.

But you didn't care now. Your mother wasn't here to tell you off.

Hunk looked up and met your eyes, smiled nervously. You smiled back, folding your hands in front of yourself just for something to do.

He took one step into the room, set his jacket on the back of the sofa and said, “Well?”

You knew what he meant immediately. “I want to hear your decision first.”

“You know what my decision is.”

“Do I?”

Hunk rubbed the back of his neck. His hand came away shiny, slick with sweat. “Please don't make me wait. I need a shower desperately.”

You grinned and walked over to him. There was no jumping, no diving into his arms, no squealing and yelling and exclamations of love – you two hadn't got to that point yet, but you had great faith in the idea of one day.

For now, though, you sufficed for bundling your hands in his white shirt and pulling him down to kiss you.

His hands rested on your hips. Your shirt had ridden up, and his rings nipped at the flesh. Your hands stayed bundled in his shirt, too grossed out by his sweat to travel anywhere else, but you needed to touch him in some form. You needed to feel something of his beneath your hands, and apparently his lips alone would not suffice.

He groaned low in his throat and pulled away, gasping for air you hadn't realised you had been taking from him. The kiss felt like only a peck, but your breathing was laboured and Hunk's face was bright red. He nipped your hips a little tighter, causing you to squeal and lurch into him; he grinned, burying his face in the crook of your neck now that he had the chance.

You groaned, but didn't shove him away. “I was trying to avoid your sweat that entire time.”

“That's not fair. Let me give you the whole package or not at all.”

You pulled away, raising a brow. Hunk flushed, seeming to realise what he had just said and just what he was implying.

“Don't take that the wrong way, or I swear to-”

“Was that a promise, Hunk Garrett?”

He rolled his eyes, pressed a hand to the back of your head and kissed you – yes, it was a promise.

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writersblockandapotoftea · 7 years ago

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Science Fiction Prompts

Inspired by #humans are weird, Voltron, and a few other things

“Don’t pet the giant alien.” “I’m going to pet it.” “Human ___, no.” “Yes.”

The scientist stared at the beautiful creation of theirs, this beautiful robot. The robot opened their eyes. “Hello, I’m your parent.”

“Day 1256, captain’s log. WHY DID Y’ALL FUCKS AT HOUSTON SEND ME HERE? THIS IS BORING.”

The human stared at the smoking crater in the middle of nowhere. Scraps of metal were scattered about, but the bulk of the ship, in the doorway of which the green human stood, was intact. “12983974.” “I don’t speak symbols, I’m not an enigma machine.” “Apologies, my 467278 is broken.” “What?” “814759, I meant translator.”

Tick. Tick. The keys clicked as she typed, transcribing the chatter in her headphones, even though it made no sense.

Fluffy aliens who don’t speak any language, but they love snuggles, so it’s cool.

A wing of a plane held on with duck tape.

We don’t design our ships based on logic; the wealthiest nations build our voyagers based on our dorky pop culture. There are lions, X Wings, a TARDIS or two, the Enterprise is passive-aggressively following the plot entirely by accident. It’s considered the greatest diplomatic ship of the age.

Space families of strange aliens banding together to protect the squishy ones, including humans.

“WHAT IS LOVE?” The human crew member screamed at the pirate. “Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me no more,” the AI replied. The pirate stared at them. “What was the point of that?” “If I’m going to die, I’m going to piss you off as much as I can.”

Feel free to use these, just tag me!

#writing prompts #art prompt #otp prompts #writing #art #voltron #science fiction #humans are space orcs #sci fi

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naruwitch · 5 years ago

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 10: Tears of the Balmera

Rai's eyes barely opened as he turned his head to look around. He could feel that his arms were bound behind his back, and the room seemed darker than usual, coated in purple light instead of blue.

"Rai," he heard a whimper to his right. Turning his head, he saw Milly also bound, her hands tied behind her, but she was leaning over Rivalz, trying to hide tears.

"It's going to be okay, Milly," he tried to say comfortingly.

"Haxus! I want whoever's in this ship found and terminated!" Sendak's voice rang out. Rai lifted his head to the center of the room, which he realized was the bridge. It was now alight with a purple glow compared to the neon blue they were all used to. He suspected it was thanks to the dark violet crystal sitting on the platform by Sendak. From the sound of Sendak's tone, though, he was angry. Did something happen?

"Commander Sendak, I've received a transmission generating from somewhere inside," Haxus informed him as he punched in a few more buttons.

"There's not much time before they get the ship running again. You must shut off the particle barrier so we can get in," Allura's slightly pixeled out voice rang out.

"Got it; what do we do?" Kallen's voice asked.

"The particle barrier generator is beneath the main hull."

"Understood," Rai's eyes widened as he recognized Lelouch's voice.

"She's telling the intruders how to take down our defenses," Haxus said, a slight layer of concern in his tone.

"Yes, but she's also giving away their location. Find that room. Kill the Paladins!" Sendak ordered.

"Rai…" Milly whispered fearfully as the sentries left. If they caught Lelouch and Kallen, it was over.

"It's going to be okay, Milly, believe in them," he whispered back with a small smile.

"You stop talking!" Sendak snapped at them, causing Rai to glare back, and Milly to flinch away. "Repair the engine," he told Haxus, "Emperor Zarkon has commanded us to bring him Voltron. This ship will rise before day's end."

o~o

Meanwhile, back on the Balmera, Coran, C.C., and Shirley all took cover by the pod as two figures approached them from the tunnels.

Shirley pulled her Bayard out and unsteadily pointed the bow at them. "Okay, don't come any closer! I don't know how to use this very well."

As the creatures came into the light, however, she saw that they weren't Galra, but two large built, thick, stone-skinned bipedal creatures, with gold eyes that matched those of the Galra. Their faces didn't seem to have a nose, and instead of hair, their heads had a thick layer of cartilage that made it look like helmets. The shorter one even had hoops on the sides of it. Their clothing looked ragged and worn out, and their two-toed feet were bare.

"Wait a minute. You're not Galra!" Shirley gasped, lowering her bow.

"Nor are you!" the shorter one gasped, a feminine voice exiting. Her tone was wary but also coated with relief and hope.

There was suddenly a humming sound from above, and the creatures looked upwards, the shorter one gasping. Looking up, Shirley saw a Galra ship, maybe the same one that was chasing them, descending the shaft. Red lights shined out, scanning for signs of intruders.

"A patrol!" the taller one exclaimed, before turning to his companion, "Shay, we must take leave from these ones, now."

"Wait, please! We need your help. If the Galra find us, they'll kill us." Coran pleaded.

"Or torture us!" Shirley added.

"Or capture us and stuff us in testing tubes to be living experiments for them," C.C. said. Coran and Shirley looked at the immortal horrified. "What? It could happen," she shrugged nonchalantly.

"Not our problem, stranger. Galra see us near you, and they kill both you and us. Shay, exeunt!" the taller alien said, about to leave.

"No!" Shay protested, "These many years only Galra have been seen here. I will not turn my back on the skylings."

The trio let out a breath of relief as the female alien agreed to help. Shay looked at her brother, pleading him to help.

He finally sighed, "...Vex!" He ran out towards the pod and began pushing it towards the tunnel. Now that Shirley had a better look at them, she saw that these aliens also had tails.

"Grab a side!" he said, ordering Shay, "In here, hurry!" Together they pushed the pod deep into the tunnel. They finished hiding it just as the Galra ship passed by their level before leaving for the top again.

When the Galra ship left, everyone breathed out in relief. That was way too close.

"Thanks for saving us. I'm Shirley," the Orange Paladin said, smiling at the aliens.

"Shay," the alien smiled, "And this one, my brother Rax. How did you fall to us?"

"We're looking for something," C.C. said, "And we believe your people might be able to help us find it."

o~o

"Lelouch, have you and Kallen made it to the generator room?" Allura asked through their helmets.

"Yes, but I'm hesitant to continue forward," the Prince said, hesitating at the entrance doors. The room looked similar to the other hallways of the Castle. The only difference was that on the sides, there were large bolts of violet electricity crackling around them.

"What? Why?" Allura asked.

"I think we may be walking into an ambush," Lelouch told her.

"How do you know?" Kallen asked.

"Think about it, Sendak at the moment has complete control of the Castle. Meaning he may have access to any frequencies entering and exiting it. For all, we know he's been listening in to our entire conversation."

"Are you sure?" Kallen asked as the two along with Rover walked down the generator's hall, "If this was an ambush he set up, wouldn't we have been attacked by now?"

"Just be careful you two, the lives of your fellow Paladins are at stake," Allura said.

"Talk us through it, fast!" Lelouch said.

"Shutting down the barrier from this room can be dangerous. Remember, the barrier is also a weapon. So, stay away from the energy arcs."

"Don't touch the giant lightning bolts. Got it," Lelouch summed up.

As Allura continued to talk them through the process, Kallen bit her lip. What the princess said was true. Milly, Rai, and Rivalz would die if they didn't do this. She thought back to the oath that she made when the Black Knights made their debut just over two weeks (movements?) ago. They swore that they would protect anyone too weak to defend themselves. Nationalities and social status didn't matter.

"Those of you with power, fear us! Those of you without it, rally behind us as you see fit!"

Zero's words ran through her head as she continued to think back. Milly had inducted her into the student council so that it would be easier on her 'health.' All of them had been welcoming, even Nina, who was considered the shiest of the bunch. She was never super close to any of them. Heck, now that she thought about it, this was the most intimate interaction that she'd had with them since the beginning!

She also thought about what her brother, Naoto, would think of all this. The Black Knights, Voltron, the Ga-

Rover suddenly beeped in alarm, and that was the only warning they got as a laser blast barely missed the pair.

"Lelouch? Hello? Are you there?!"

"Sorry, Princess, but I have cut communications. We can't risk Sendak finding us again!" Lelouch shouted before cutting the connection. He and Kallen ran for their lives as the sentries stormed into the room.

o~o

"Lelouch, what's going on?!" she demanded. All that answered her was static. She bit her lip, panicking for a second. Then an idea struck.

"Wait... the mice! Maybe they can help," she said to herself as she then closed her eyes in concentration.

"Friends..."

o~o

The Space Mice were currently lounging in Allura's bedroom, a couple of them rifling through her jewelry box.

"...I need your help," Allura's plea echoed in their heads. Platt, who had been lying outside the box, seeing how he was too big, quickly butted it open, and his three siblings jumped out, scattering a few gems and rings on the dresser. They quickly scampered off to the closest air shaft.

o~o

Back in the Generator room, Lelouch and Kallen managed to find shelter behind one of the structures, shielding them from the sentries' blasts.

"Kallen, find an escape route, fast!" Lelouch ordered, and the Red Paladin pulled up her gauntlet screen. It quickly analyzed the room before pointing to their exit.

"You're kidding me; our only exit is two floors up!" She shouted, risking a glance behind to spot the air shaft.

Lelouch held out his hand, concentrating, trying to summon some of that lightning from before. Nothing came out, though. "What the hell?!" he whispered. Now was certainly not the opportune time for his abilities to be stuck.

Wait... lightning!

"Kallen, I've got an idea, try and distract a few of them!"

Kallen nodded before springing out from behind her hiding place, quickly charging two of the sentries. Then Lelouch ran out and attempted to leap to the upper floor. Kallen had managed to take out two of them, but a third hit Lelouch in the chest before his form flickered, and the blast hit one of the lightning bolts instead. It zapped the sentry backward, effectively destroying it, and nearly hitting the fourth.

"Kallen, come on!" Taking this moment of surprise to their advantage, the two bolted for the exit. They managed to dodge the blasts from the final sentry before Lelouch leaped up and grabbed onto Rover, who propelled him upward. He felt Kallen grab onto his middle, and Rover deposited them to the upper air duct. Lelouch let go as soon as his feet hit the narrow ledge.

"I can't believe that worked!" Lelouch gasped with a short laugh as he crawled towards the ducts.

"GO!" Kallen shouted as she pushed Lelouch through, barely dodging another blast. The sentry kept firing until the two Paladins and bot disappeared inside.

"You stay here and guard the generator," the sentry told his remaining comrade as he ran off in pursuit.

At one point, Kallen managed to climb over Lelouch in the duct and sliced through to the other side. She crawled out and was shocked to see that the airway had led them to the Training Deck. The two climbed to their feet and made a move for the exit. But the observation deck window burst above them, and the sentry that came after them jumped between them and the door.

"You again?! Man, you're persistent!" Kallen yelled as she raised her shield to block the attacks. With a battle cry, Kallen rushed forward, giving the sentry no time to dodge as she sliced it in two.

"That ought to teach 'em!" she grinned.

"I wouldn't go that far!" Lelouch exclaimed. Kallen froze as a noise they were both familiar with was heard above them. The gladiator landed with a crash in the middle of the deck, staff in hand.

"Seriously?!" Kallen yelled. The gladiator ran at Lelouch first, seeing as he didn't have any immediate weapons with him. He pulled his shield up to block, but the gladiator was ruthless and kept pounding on it, driving the Black Paladin to his knees.

"Hey! Dipstick!" Kallen shouted as she charged, drawing its attention. It swung it's staff around to hit Kallen, which she managed to block with her claws. While Kallen was holding the gladiator back, Lelouch hit a control on the back of his shield, showing the layout of the invisible maze.

"See if you can handle this!" He grinned deviously as he pushed the button to activate it. Kallen quickly leaped backward as the Gladiator tried to strike again only to run into the maze's wall, which knocked it back.

"Come on!" he shouted, pulling open another air shaft on the floor. Kallen ran over as Lelouch dropped himself down, she quickly followed along with Rover. They crawl through the duct again before coming to some crossroads... but were almost hit by another laser blast! The gladiator had escaped the maze, grabbed the fallen sentry's gun, and had pursued them down the shaft!

The two quickly dodged to the right and began crawling for their lives, the gladiator sliding after them, shooting them as they went. Halfway across another shaft was another shaft that led downwards. Lelouch jumped the gap, but as Kallen was about to, the gladiator landed a hit on her jetpack. She screamed as she stumbled, beginning to fall.

"Kallen!" Lelouch shouted as he reached after her, grabbing her hand. Unfortunately, the momentum, along with being anchored down by her weight and his weak arm strength, resulted in them both tumbling down the shaft. It would've been a painful demise if Kallen didn't jam her Bayard claws into the side to prevent them from falling further. They stopped right above another ledge, which Lelouch cautiously landed on.

The gladiator wasn't done yet, though. It braced itself between the sides of the shaft and continued to fire at them. It, however, didn't count on a certain reprogrammed drone to suddenly hit it hard in the back, causing it to lose its grip, tumbling down into the shaft. The sudden tumble caught Kallen by surprise, accidentally switching her Bayard off! She screamed as she began to fall after it, but a well-timed leap from Lelouch's ledge allowed the Black Paladin to catch her and brace both of them on the other end. They both watched as they lost sight of the robot before it burst into flames upon hitting the bottom.

They both breathed a sigh of relief after that, now that they were officially safe… only to blush two seconds later when they realized how close to each other's chest they were.

Next to them, Rover beeped out a series of noises, as if it were laughing!

"Not funny, Rover!" Kallen exclaimed, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

o~o

Back on the Balmera, Shirley, Coran, and C.C. were sitting around a fire with Shay, Rax, and the rest of their family. Despite being strangers, the Balmerans were very kind to them, offering them food and temporary shelter.

"Thanks for the delicious soup," Shirley said graciously, not realizing how hungry she'd been before, "Are these potatoes in here?"

"Grandma's special dish for special visitors," Shay smiled, "Cave-root for the skin. Cave bugs for the soul."

Shirley was in the middle of drinking the rest of the broth when she heard Shay. She tried her hardest not to spew everything back up, forcing herself to swallow, holding her fist to her mouth to keep from vomiting. Plus, it looked like this was all the food these people had, so she at least tried to be polite.

Coran also grimaced, but still strained a smile, "Thank you for the bugs," Shay's grandmother smiled and poured more into Coran's bowl. "Okay, I think that's too many."

C.C. seemed the least affected of the three. She was just glad they had something to eat. She remembered when she was once a child that she had to survive off of less and even worse than a few cave insects. She just shrugged and placed her bowl next to her.

Soup aside, however, Shirley turned her attention to the aliens themselves, "So, how many of you are down here exactly?"

"There are thousands here on Balmera," Shay's father replied. "We work and live in these mines."

"We harvest crystals for Zarkon," Shay added.

"Zarkon," Shirley grit her teeth, angry. She couldn't believe he was letting so many people suffer. "That's so... sad that he's enslaved an entire planet."

"Zarkon may rule, but we still have family. That's where true happiness comes from," the father said, smiling a little. Shirley, moved by this sent a small smile back. She then struggled to hold back tears as she thought of her mom and dad back on Earth, and how much she missed them.

Rax suddenly leaped to his feet, "The Galra would tear our family asunder if they found these ones! Everyone comes to Balmera and takes but gives nothing in return."

"In the past, those who took the Balmera's crystals would replenish her with energy," Shay explained in a depressed tone, "It was an equal exchange. But the Galra only take. It is no wonder we can feel her suffering."

Shay placed her hand lightly on the ground, and it began to glow a faint blue. Soft echoes filled the tunnel as the Balmera cried out. Shirley, Coran, and even C.C. looked on with remorse. These people and this animal were suffering so much from the Galra's greed. There had to be a way to help them.

"I'm sorry that we put everyone in this situation," Shirley said sincerely, "but the faster we get the Crystal and get out, the faster everyone is out of danger."

"We're looking for a battleship-class crystal," Coran informed them.

"Battleship-class crystal? Those are most rare," the father informed them regrettably. "Galra soldiers guard them ceaselessly until their harvest. Your quest is in vain."

"There is one, found only weeks ago. It is almost excavated." Shay said, but Rax cut her off before she could say anything else.

"Quiet! Even if they could steal the crystal from the Galra, battle patrols wait to take down their ship. These ones have no chance of getting out of here alive, with Crystal or without."

Shirley gulped a little as she recognized the tone Rax was using. It was the same tone that Lelouch used when he heard someone talking bad about his sister. It was a tone used when trying to protect what was most precious to you, and both cases, it was family.

"So it would seem this crystal we need is the hardest thing in the universe to get," C.C. said, folding her arms around her legs and leaning back slightly.

"Well, I don't know about the hardest," Coran argued, "There is the scaultrite mineral found only in the stomachs of giant weblums. Collecting that stuff's no picnic. Uh, but, yes, th-this seems very difficult."

"You've had some wacky adventures, haven't you?" Shirley asked with a quirked eyebrow. Coran grinned back sheepishly.

"You may stay here until Balmera gives another crystal. One that is hidden from Galra eyes." Shay offered, but Shirley shook her head.

"We don't have time. One of my friends is injured, and he needs to get into a magic healing machine, stat."

"C.C., Shirley, stay by the pod and make sure it's not too damaged. I'm going to do some reconnaissance and see if I can come up with another plan," Coran said as he got to his feet. He left the girls with the Balmeran family as he headed down the tunnel.

o~o

Kallen sliced through another air duct, and after looking around, crawled out. Lelouch and Rover followed close behind. After the save in the last shaft, they managed to find a more stable air duct that took them to one of the Castle's hallways.

Lelouch looked around quickly and found that they were alone. He leaned back against the wall with a sigh and removed his helmet, "I think we're safe for the moment…"

"What do we do?" Kallen said, "We haven't exactly made much progress in stopping Sendak."

"That's not true," Lelouch immediately disagreed. "Yes, Sendak still has complete control of the Castle, meaning he can track our movements with the cameras and any communications with Allura and Suzaku. We probably can't access the Lions either; he's likely locked their hanger doors."

"How does that help us?!" Kallen exclaimed in frustration.

Lelouch straightened and put a firm hand on her shoulder, "Kallen, you need to calm down. The last thing either of us wants to do is panic right now,"

The Red Paladin blinked. She'd heard that tone before. It was one that Zero gave when directing them in battle. This surprisingly calmed her down significantly.

"Now it's true, we're in a tight spot, but think about Sendak's situation as well. Did you notice how many sentries there were when they first came in?"

Kallen blinked before she remembered. When they had been watching from the balcony, there had been only about five or six of them.

"That's right," Lelouch nodded, as if reading her mind, "There were only about five or six of them, along with only one other Galra. And if my math is correct, we managed to take out at least four of them. That means there's only one or two of them left. And I guess that they're the ones still guarding the Power Generator."

"Well, let's go and take those out!" Kallen said, "We can handle one or two robots!"

"Negative," Lelouch shook his head, "that's likely what Sendak is expecting us to do. If we go back to attack the robot, that gives the other Galra more time to repair the engines. It's a diversion. Plus, he still has Rivalz, Rai, and Milly as hostages, so it'd be foolish to go after the 'King piece' right now. Our best course of action would be taking out the other Galra with him. Eliminating him will cut off Sendak's chances of repair the engines unless he goes to do it himself."

"And if he does that... that would give us time to free the others and take down the particle barrier. It's a loss for him either way!" Kallen exclaimed in realization.

"Exactly," Lelouch smirked victoriously, "he doesn't realize it yet, but he's just left himself open for checkmate."

"Let's go then!" Kallen said, already about to take off for the Turbine room again. Lelouch nodded, and they both ran off, Rover trailing behind them.

'He and Zero act so much alike…' Kallen thought as they ran, 'But they're not the same person, that was confirmed when Zero called me in the bathroom… Still..'

As they ran, Lelouch was also thinking, his mind racing with memories of the past. He remembered when he and Suzaku first met. They didn't get along at first, not surprising because of how different they had been, and still were. But they eventually warmed up to each other and became the best of friends.

Milly's family had offered them sanctuary after Britannia's invasion of Japan and had kept his and Nunnally's identities secret for the time being. He had met Rivalz not too long after. The two of them hit it off right away, feeling like they understood each other due to their difficult family situations since his parents were estranged. Though, to Rivalz's knowledge, Lelouch and Nunnally's parents died in the invasion.

The rest of the current student council slowly trickled into his life over the years. Almost all of them made efforts to befriend him and his sister. Despite their efforts, though, Lelouch always seemed to keep his distance. Ever since the confrontation with his father, those eight years ago, he learned not to place too much trust in people. He feared that if they found out the truth about his true identity as a Prince of Britannia, that they would leave him and turn their backs on him and his sister. They'd end up as political tools, a casualty of royal ambition.

But… ever since landing in the Blue Lion at this castle, that resolve was slowly cracking away what Shirley said after they formed Voltron for the second time after.

"No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. A family all the way. I love you guys!"

And it was true; he had felt closer to them. He was starting to see them as siblings he never had… and also…

"In here?" Lelouch said, turning to C.C.

"This is where Coran said he was located," the green-haired witch said. Lelouch crept into the room. It was lit with a small glowing orb at the center of the room. He reached out for it, and suddenly burst with color. Lelouch was soon surrounded by a magnificent field of flowers, mountains rising in the distance, and a clear blue sky above him.

"How-"

Before Lelouch could finish his thought, a glitching sound started from behind him. Turning around, the form of late King Alfor appeared before him.

"So you're King Alfor, former patriarch of planet Altea," Lelouch addressed formerly, "as well as Princess Allura's father."

"Well, this is quite the surprise," Alfor said, "I haven't had anyone else come to visit me. What may I do for you, Lelouch?"

"You know my name?" he frowned.

"Allura has told all about you and the new Paladins," the king informed him kindly, "and how fast you are progressing at your Paladin training."

"Yes, well…" Lelouch hesitated for a moment before continuing, "...about that. I wanted to inquire about something, specifically the Lions."

"Go on?" Alfor asked in a concerned tone. Lelouch didn't understand, but despite just meeting Alfor, he felt… calm. Safe around him. It was the exact opposite feeling he had when in the imposing presence of his father.

"When the Lions picked their Paladins for the first time," Lelouch said, "did any of them have second thoughts. Did any feel like this wasn't their calling? Like they had other things they had to attend to?"

Alfor smiled ruefully, "Well, I'll be honest after Allura was born, it was hard for my wife and myself to split our attention between Voltron and her upbringing. And there were times that I considered stepping down as Paladin and letting someone else take the reins."

"Wait- you were a Voltron Paladin?" Lelouch asked, shocked, "You and your wife."

"I was," Alfor nodded, "I created Lions of Voltron and was after that chosen by the Red Lion as its first pilot. My wife, Melenor, was also claimed by the Purple Lion."

"And yet at the same time, you still had an obligation to your subjects," Lelouch said.

"Indeed," Alfor nodded, "but it was when my conflicting thoughts came into play that I realized something else as well. The other Paladins that fought alongside us; they weren't just teammates to us. They were also treasured members of our family. If I left them to pursue my duties as king permanently, I'd also be putting them in danger by not being there. By fighting alongside my brothers and sisters, I grew to understand that I was protecting all the members of my family. And I wouldn't have it any other way."

'Now I get it,' Lelouch thought with a sad smile, 'they were your family. They're… my family,'

"Lelouch?" Kallen called out from down the hall. He raised his head in surprise. With all his thinking, he hadn't realized that he stopped. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry!" he called as he ran to catch up.

"What's wrong?" she asked as they ran next to each other.

"I guess… I just realized how poorly I've been treating my friends is all," Lelouch answered before his eyes narrowed. "But that's about to change!"

Now that he thought about it, he'd be lying if he said he didn't care about the other members of the team. It was one of the driving forces that allowed him to save them during the hotel-jacking, not just because Colonel Kusakabe was in the wrong for endangering civilians. He cared about the safety of the Black Knights as well. It was always difficult to see when his plans involved sacrificing some of them to win. If there had been another way, all the Black Knights would come out of battle, maybe a little beaten up at times, but at least alive.

His earlier declaration about preparing Earth for an invasion wasn't wrong either. With the way, Britannia was moving now and the disarray of the other nations, should the Galra attack, they'd all be wiped out. Even Britannia wouldn't last long.

Now it seemed that defeating Britannia was out of the picture as well. If they wanted a chance against the Galra, they needed Britannia's technology. They didn't need it to conquer, though. They needed to use it to defend. But Britannia would only cooperate if they knew it was a force they couldn't easily defeat.

If they took Voltron to Earth, and the Empire saw that even they stood no chance against the juggernaut, it could at least subdue Britannia and its forces for the time being and force them to cooperate. Only if Earth stood on a united front would the Galra be driven back.

'To do that, though…' Lelouch would need to reveal his identity to the others and explain to them his actions. Including his identity as Zero. If they were to be a fully supportive team, there couldn't be any secrets between them. And if they were his te-his family, they wouldn't turn their back on him.

He nodded at this silent declaration as he and Kallen continued to the turbine chamber.

o~o

Somewhere else in the Castle, the Space Mice were also doing their own infiltration. Allura had ordered them to get to the generator room and turn off the particle barrier so that they could get inside. Due to their small size, Sendak wasn't able to pick up their presence. And even if he did, he would have brushed them off as merely pests he'd deal with later. Plus, he didn't know about Princess Allura's connection to them, allowing communication to be made between them easily.

It was perfect!

o~o

Back outside the Castle, Allura was pacing with anxiety. Lelouch and Kallen hadn't contacted her or Suzaku again for several hours. She understood his caution for turning off the communicators, but by doing that, she couldn't tell them how to stop Sendak effectively. The mice were currently doing a well enough job sneaking to the generator room. Hopefully, the particle barrier would be down soon so that they could help.

"You okay, Princess?" Suzaku asked, "You look worried."

"It's because I am," she admitted, "We haven't heard from Kallen or Lelouch for varga now. We don't know if they are alright or not!"

"Calm down, Princess," Suzaku said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me when I tell you that they're fine. Lelouch is one of the smartest people I know. If anyone can figure out a way to stop Sendak, it's him. Plus, he has Kallen with him. She can handle herself."

'Which is weird…' Suzaku said silently, 'It's obvious now that she's never been sick. So then… why would she pretend to be? To skip school? Get out of P.E. as Lelouch tries to? The way she moved during training, it's like she's been fighting all her life…'

"From the way you speak of him, it sounds like you've known him for a long while," Allura observed with a smile, despite the situation.

"Yeah," Suzaku nodded, "we were childhood friends, but we lost contact with each other until about a few months ago," he chuckled a little, "but he hasn't changed a bit."

"If I might ask…" Allura inquired, "Lelouch mentioned he had a sister. What exactly happened to her?"

"Oh!" Suzaku said, looking apprehensive, "Um… there was an… an incident in their early childhood that caused her to lose her legs and sight."

"What kind of incident?" Allura questioned further, "It wouldn't have anything to do with him being a prince, would it?"

Suzaku physically jumped back, his eyes wide in shock. "How do you know about that?!"

"The mice told me. They overheard him and C.C. talking about something, and the subject was brought up," she explained.

"Oh… that makes sense, I guess…" Suzaku muttered in relief.

"Although…" Allura frowned, "When I tried to talk to him about it, he spoke of it with such contempt… I do not understand why, though."

Suzaku bit his lip, "I think it's best if he told you about it himself," he then laughed ruefully, "if he found out I blabbed about it, he'd put me through the wringer."

Allura smiled awkwardly before frowning again, her eyebrows knit together in thought.

"And I'll die first before I let my father get his filthy hands on her again!"

'If Lelouch is a prince, that would make his father a ruler of some sort,' the Altean royal thought in confusion, 'so why in Alaaran did he speak so… viciously about him? And he can't possibly mean that his father truly abandoned them, does he?'

o~o

Thanks to C.C.'s quick save from earlier, the pod didn't sustain any structural damage, even when they crashed into the tunnel wall. At least that's what C.C. herself informed Shirley as she inspected the craft. The Orange Paladin was honestly shocked by how much C.C. knew about engineering and fixing equipment. She may as well be a professional mechanic.

The two weren't alone, though. Shay was leaning against a rock, watching them as they worked.

"Tell me, what is the sky like?" she suddenly asked curiously.

"The sky?" Shirley asked, shocked. Of all the questions to be asked, she certainly wasn't expecting this one, "You seriously have never even seen the sky?"

Shay looked down, a sad look on her face, "No…" but then the Balmera grinned and leaped gracefully to the top of the pod, "...but, at night, I sneak up as high as I dare, trying to imagine what it is like. Oh, lucky are you to fly in this machine to worlds far from here."

"Well, it doesn't have to be like this. You can be free, too."

"Free?" Shay asked, the word sounding so foreign in her tone.

"Yeah, free," Shirley tried to explain as Shay hopped back down to the ground, "It means you can go where you want, be what you want, do what you want. No Galra masters to tell you what to do."

"It makes no sense. Zarkon controls everything," Shay said sadly.

"Well-yeah, right now, he seems to…" Shirley paused in her rambling as her mind suddenly wandered to Area 11. It was once a country all its own, with its own people, beliefs, religions, utterly different from Britannia. She thought she lived a pretty good life there… but now that she thought about it, and saw up close the way Shay's people lived, she realized that the Elevens were mirror-images of them. Unless they enrolled as Honorary Britannians like Suzaku, they couldn't live in the same area, join the military, go to the same schools, or even eat in the same restaurants! She felt ashamed that it never clicked in her head before, how less free everyone else was compared to her and other Britannians.

She quickly shook her head to clear it, returning to Shay's focus, "But-but things are changing! Have you heard of Voltron before?"

"...A child's tale?" Shay asked dubiously, quirking an eyebrow.

"No, he's real!" Shirley exclaimed, "I'm actually one of the Paladins, and Voltron is going to defeat Zarkon."

"You are?" Shay asked, hope filling her voice.

"Stop filling this one's head with your shadow show!" Rax shouted, coming from the tunnel, glaring at Shirley, "The cavern is our home. This will never change. Come."

Shay reluctantly stood from the rock and followed her brother back inside.

Shirley stood there, shocked. How could Rax be so unsupportive of all this?

"These people haven't known what 'freedom' is for many years, it's a new concept for them," C.C. said as if reading her mind, "And more often than not, people fear change. They fear the unknown."

This only made Shirley sadder. Sad at how willing the Balmerans were to accept their fate as slaves. Did the Ele-the Japanese who weren't fighting in rebelLions have similar thoughts to Britannia?

She nearly burst into tears.

o~o

"Powering sub-panels," Haxus reported as he stood in front of the Central Energy Chamber's computer.

"Sub-panel energy transducer is go," Sendak's voice intoned from the other side.

"Aye, sir. Opening pathway to link with Bridge. Initializing main cluster reboot."

Lelouch, Kallen, and Rover were crouched behind the doors, watching and listening to Haxus and Sendak's conversation.

"Okay, we found the other Galra, now what? Just walk right up to him and ask him to stop?" she questioned sarcastically.

To her shock, Lelouch smirked and took off his helmet, "That's precisely what we're going to do."

Kallen watched in shock as Lelouch casually strolled up to the catwalk, wholly unarmed and making no move to draw a weapon. Gritting her teeth, she trailed slowly behind him.

Haxus, hearing the footsteps turned around to see the two of them approaching. Lelouch stopped about ten feet in front of him.

"You're the ones causing all this trouble?! Children?!"

"Hey! We're not kids! We're Paladins of Voltron!" Kallen declared, whipping out her Bayard. She was shocked, though when Lelouch held out his arm, preventing her from stepping further.

Haxus laughed mockingly, pulling out a blade, "Let me tell you something, children. I'm a soldier of the Galra Empire! Nothing stops me but triumph or death!"

Lelouch laughed and smirked evilly, his hand raising to his face, covering his left eye, "Well then, how about a third option? Where you put away your weapon and tell us everything we want to know," his hand fell from his face, the Geass symbol flashing ominously. The sigil flew into Haxus's eye. A red ring now within them, showing he was entrapped within Lelouch's command.

To Kallen's shock, Haxus did put away his weapon, "As you wish, say on."

"How much of the engine have you repaired already?" Lelouch asked first.

"I've repowered the sub-panels and was just beginning to initialize the reboot by connecting it to the bridge," the Galra answered monotonously.

"Can the engine and particle barrier be shut down from here?"

"The engine can, but the particle barrier's functions are elsewhere."

"Very well, deactivate the engine then."

Kallen's jaw seemed to descend further as Lelouch continued to question the Galra, and he was answering without resistance! And now he was willingly turning off the main turbine!

o~o

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Sendak's eyes widened as he saw the main engine powering down suddenly.

"Haxus! Haxus, what are you doing?!" he shouted angrily into the computer. He slammed his robot fit into the ground when no response came.

From behind him, he heard the Green Paladin laugh, "It sounds like you're having some trouble up there! I think I can see you sweating!"

The commander growled at the hostage, which briefly silenced him.

o~o

"Where's Sendak?" Lelouch questioned next after Haxus finished.

"He's located on the Castle's main bridge. He's holding three of the Paladins prisoner."

"Is there anything else we should know about?"

"No," he intoned.

"Very well," Lelouch smirked, "then I command you: Die!"

Haxus drew his blade again, holding it to his own throat, "Vrepit Sa!" The blade cut cleanly through his jugular as he then tumbled backward over the edge of the walkway.

Kallen still stood in shock, trying to process what in the world she just watched happen while Lelouch stepped towards the edge and looked over it. He barely caught a glimpse of Haxus's corpse as it disappeared into the abyss.

"H-How did-"

"I'll explain everything later, Kallen, I promise," Lelouch interrupted, "Right now, we need to focus on rescuing the others."

Kallen nodded with a swallow. After witnessing what just happened, she saw Lelouch's head warp into a large helmet with a shaded mask in the front. His Paladin armor was replaced with a large black cape that swept around him like a bat ready to take flight. Even his posture was almost identical to Zero.

"Haxus, report in, now!" Sendak's voice rang out of the computer.

Kallen stepped in front of it, slamming her hands flat on the console, "Haxus is dead, and you're next!"

"You've slowed me down," the commander snarled, "but this ship is mine! You will turn yourselves over to me immediately!"

"Or else what?!" she spat. Lelouch's face soon fell into a scowl. Kallen shouldn't have said that!

"Your fellow Paladins can explain," Sendak sneered.

"What do you want?!" Milly's frightened voice came through.

"Your friends wanted to hear from you."

"No, don't-" Rai's voice was cut off when Milly screamed, and electrical sounds echoed through the computer.

"Leave her a-" Rai's scream soon followed.

"You bastard!" Lelouch seethed, though he wasn't surprised that Sendak played this move. That didn't do anything to dampen his rage, though.

"You can make it stop. Turn yourselves in. Their suffering is in your hands."

Lelouch scowled before speaking, "Will their safety be guaranteed if we do so?"

"Yes. Turn yourself over at the bridge, I'll be waiting," Sendak said before the line was cut off.

An angry sneer was on Lelouch's face he gracefully swept out of the room, Kallen following behind.

"You realize he's probably lying, right?" Kallen said.

Lelouch laughed humorlessly, "Of course he is. I'm not stupid enough to fall for such an obvious ploy."

"So then… are you gonna do the same thing you did to Haxus?"

"That's the plan. The problem is that I must make direct eye contact for it to work. One of them is cybernetic as well, so I don't know if it will pose a problem or not, so I'll need you for back up."

Kallen nodded as they continued their determined walk to the bridge.

o~o

"Is your ship prepared that you may depart our presence?" Rax asked rudely as he, Shay, and the Voltron trio stood around the fire.

"My, my, you seem desperate to have us leave this place," C.C. said, crossing her arms.

"I am," Rax frowned.

"Well, the ship works, but we can't leave without that crystal," Shirley said. She then looked at Coran, "Do you have any ideas on how to get it?"

"Actually, yes," the Altean grinned.

Shortly after, Shirley nearly lost her balance as the trio held themselves underneath a cloak, with a sentry head on top. The plan was for this sentry disguise to sneak them past the guards and take the crystal.

"This is the worst plan in the history of plans," C.C. muttered. 'And that's saying a lot coming from me!'

"Shh! Legs don't talk!" Coran said as they approached the guards. Behind it was a large blue crystal nestled into the rock. C.C. and Shirley were both sharing the job of being the robot's legs while Coran was crouched on top of their shoulders, a sentry's head sticking up on top.

"Oh, hello, gentlemen, shift's over. Boss needs you back at the guard shack." Coran said as he came up to the guards.

'You could least try and sound like one of those robots!' Shirley panicked.

"Verify identification code," the sentry ordered.

"Right. I didn't want to have to do this." Coran pulled one of the sentry's arms out from under the cloak, "But I'm going to have to pull rank. You guys are in big trouble, right? So, hand over those blasters and ID badges."

That didn't do anything to stop the sentries as they raised their guns and charged them up, "Verify identification code or be destroyed."

"Okay, okay. I've got it right... here!" Coran exclaimed as the trio lost their disguise, revealing Coran, Shirley, and C.C. The girls had been perched underneath, holding Coran up. Shirley quickly fired two quick shots from her bow, hitting the sentries' heads, effectively destroying them.

Coran hopped down to the ground and approached the crystal almost reverently. He then placed both his hands on top of it. The Crystal and Coran's hands began to glow a bright blue.

"What are you doing?" Shirley asked urgently, "We need to hurry!"

Coran peaked his eyes open at the women, "I'm not just going to pry this out of here like some Galra monster," he exclaimed, "The Balmera is a sacred being. You have to communicate with it. Let your life forces connect. This is the way it was done in our time."

"Whoa!" Shirley gasped.

"You really know your Balmeras," C.C. smirked, folding her arms again.

The Balmera soon started to shake, and Coran stepped back as the crystal stopped glowing. The ground around it shifted away, exposing the crystal completely. Coran jumped forward and caught it before it could tip over, but he was struggling to lift it back up. Suddenly there was a large crack heard in his back. Eyes wide, the advisor turned his head mechanically in the girls' direction.

"...I think I'm broken…" he muttered in pain.

C.C. sighed, and Shirley massaged her forehead before they all froze, the sound of blasters charging behind them. Turning around, they saw at least a half dozen sentries behind them, guns aims and ready to fire.

"Augh... Okay, guys!" Coran said, turning around, trying to sound threatening despite the pain, "All right, I hate to do this. Blasters and badges. Come on. Give them up!"

The reference stared in disbelief as Coran suddenly tipped over, in too much pain to continue.

C.C. sighed again as she and Shirley both raised their hands in surrender, her face a look of annoyance while Shirley smiled and giggled nervously.

o~o

Sendak stood by the bridge doors, waiting for the Black and Red Paladins to finally surrender themselves. After that, he'd kill them and the others he currently had, fix the engines himself, and have the Castle, and the Lions delivered to Zarkon by day's end.

Rivalz still lay flat on the floor, unconscious while Rai and Milly were hunched forward on their knees, struggling just to keep their eyes open.

"I'm impressed that you managed to escape, Paladin," Sendak said, addressing Rai. "Perhaps it would be worth the trip to your planet to see if the rest of your kind have your spirit."

Unbeknownst to Sendak, Lelouch and Kallen were right behind the door, hiding on the sides with Rover close by. Lelouch sneered as Sendak made that comment. Over his dead body!

"Of course, they will all end up broken, just like you. Now that we have Voltron, every planet, every race, all share the same fate."

"I'm going in," Lelouch whispered, "if my Geass, my ability, doesn't work, then you come in. Got it?"

Kallen nodded as Lelouch stepped out of the shadows. His helmet was off, and his hands were in the air. But a large smirk was plastered on his face.

o~o

Shirley, C.C., and Coran had all been moved to a holding cell deeper underground. The two women were sitting on the small benches as Coran paced anxiously.

"Quiznack! I can't believe they saw through our disguise!" he ranted.

"I do," C.C. quipped.

Shirley, meanwhile, was staring at the floor of the cell, breathing heavily, struggling to hold back tears. Coran noticed this and kneeled by her.

"It's alright number five, we'll get out of this!" he tried his best to sound cheerful, even though he was inwardly panicking as well.

"I know, but…" she bit her lip, "I-I just can't believe how so many people are suffering like this! It isn't right! How could someone do anything like this?"

Coran felt sympathy for the Earthling. He thought similarly when Zarkon turned on Altea. He was once a great warrior and friend. Then overnight, he completely changed, conquering their solar system and any other planets that stood in his way. Coran honestly was shocked to see how far his conquest had gone 10,000 years later.

"I know it's difficult to see, and you're very courageous to be fighting like this. But that's what Voltron is for. To bring hope to the universe. To prove to them that this doesn't have to be the end."

"Yeah," Shirley bitterly said, "but I don't see us doing much locked up down here."

Shirley suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, C.C. was looking at her intensely, "If you had the power to change things, would you use it then?"

The Orange Paladin blinked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

C.C. took her hand.

Shirley gasped as she was suddenly in a completely different place. A black void with tendrils of energy shooting off in various directions, coming off of her!

"Like I said," C.C.'s voice echoed in her mind, "If you had the power to change things, would you?"

Shirley's face suddenly seemed to warp in and out of reality, her surroundings turning into a large tunnel of color.

"A reason to live on..."

Suddenly, C.C.'s body flashed in her vision as well, distorted just like her own.

"I propose a deal, Shirley Fenette. In exchange for this power, you must be able to fulfill a wish of my own choosing..."

Shirley saw what appeared to be two planets, orbiting very closely together, a bright light appearing between them.

"Accept this contract, and you accept its conditions. While living within this reality, you will live, unlike any other being. A different providence, a different time, a different life."

Her surroundings were clustered with white feathers, and several more images flashed before her. She saw a ruin, then several people in olden-time clothing with strange red marks on their foreheads, the night sky with mars glimmering in the distance.

"The Power of the King will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?"

Shirley felt a new connection being made, one alongside the one she had with her Lion. All she needed to do to complete was reach out and take it — a new power blooming within her chest.

"Yes," she replied, "I accept the terms of this contract!"

C.C. had just let go of Shirley's hand, and she felt a pulse within her left eye. Coran sat there dumbfounded, wondering what in the world just happened. He wasn't able to express his concern, though, as they heard footsteps approach. Looking up, Shirley, with her right eye that wasn't covered, the trio say none other than Shay approaching them, carrying a sentry's arm.

"Shay?!" Shirley said in astonishment. The Balmera didn't say anything as she held the hand up to the scanner. Upon accepting the sentry's handprint, the cell door opened.

"Make haste to your pod. The Crystal is prepared for departure," she informed them.

"How did you get the crystal?" Coran asked, shocked.

"I was assigned to take it to the upper levels, but instead, I took it down. Soon, they will discover my ruse. Time is short."

Before they could leave, Shirley stopped her by grabbing Shay's arm, "Why are you helping us? You could get in trouble!"

"Because your words touched my heart," Shay said, "I wish for freedom for all Balmera. Perhaps your Voltron can make it so."

Shirley looked at the Balmeran, shocked. She didn't think her words had had that much of an effect. But she could see how brave Shay was being by doing this. With a determined gaze, she nodded. Unknowingly to her, her left eye flashed red, with a familiar symbol in the center.

Shay led them through the tunnels back to the pod, but just as they turned the corner where the pod was, a surprise awaited them. And not a good one. A dozen Galra sentries and Rax were standing in front of them, blocking the way.

"No! Rax, why?!" Shay cried out in betrayal.

"These three bring only trouble to our family. It was the only way to protect you," he replied.

Some of the sentries leveled their weapons at the group. Instinctively, Shirley jumped in front of them, her back pressed to them.

"NO!" Suddenly, it felt like energy had jumped from her eye, creating a sizeable transparent dome around the four of them. The Orange Paladin braced for the shots… that didn't come.

"What?!"

"Where'd they go?!"

"They're gone!" several sentries exclaimed, looking around confused. Even Rax, who had shifted behind them, blinked in dumb confusion.

Even the group themselves were confused. What did they mean they couldn't see them?

"What-what's going on?" Shirley asked, scared and confused, looking wildly at the other three.

Coran gasped, "Number five, what's going on with your left eye?"

"Huh?" she gasped, hand hovering over her left eye. She didn't have a mirror, so she couldn't understand what Coran was talking about.

"Interesting…" C.C. observed. The other three looked at the immortal, "It seems your new power makes yourself, and those in your vicinity, invisible to your enemies."

"We're invisible?" Shirley asked, looking down at herself. She seemed pretty visible to herself.

"Is this some sort trick?" one of the sentries suddenly shouted, turning and pointing his gun at Rax. The male Balmeran stepped back in fear, holding his hands out defensively.

"You're working with them, aren't you?"

"No, I-"

"Rax!" Shay shouted, kneeling on the ground and planting her hand on the surface. It glowed bright blue. A moan filled the air as the walls began to shift, and the ceiling collapsed. Boulders landed on top of the sentries, crushing several of them and saving Rax. Taking this moment of chaotic confusion to their advantage, the four quickly ran towards the pod.

Now that her Geass had worn off and they'd stepped outside the dome, the sentries that survived spotted them and started to shoot at them. One nearly hit Shay, and Shirley jumped in front of her, shield active to block some more of them.

One of the sentries, though, had a different weapon. It wasn't a blaster, but some sort of grappling hook. It aimed at Shay and fired, causing the purple rope to wrap around her, tripping and trapping her.

"Shay!" Shirley screamed as she watched her new friend being dragged back to the sentries.

"Go! Make haste!" Shay yelled.

"Let her go!" Shirley demanded, pulling out her bow.

"No, Shirley! We have to go!" Coran yelled before the Paladin could fire. With tears in her eyes, Shirley looked between her fallen friend and the pod. At the cave opening, they saw that more sentries were marching in. Soon they would be surrounded and captured again. A Galra fighter also had positioned itself outside.

Finally, she turned and jumped into the pod as well. "We'll come back for you, Shay! We promise!" The pod windows closed tight, and Coran propelled them as fast as he could out of a side entrance of the cave, crystal secured in the back with C.C.

"If we can't shake these patrols, we might be back here sooner than we want!" Coran exclaimed as they skidded beneath the Galra fighter and up through the shaft. The ship hadn't come alone, though. There were three more waiting for them as they continued upwards.

o~o

Meanwhile, back at the Castle, the final remaining sentry was patrolling the hall, in case the Black and Red Paladin decided to come back.

However, he wasn't expecting an entirely different kind of intruder to get the better of him.

The four Space Mice looked down on the ledge of an air duct they just crawled out of. Platt squeaked at his siblings before he jumped down from above, Chuchule not far behind. He landed flat on the sentry's head, surprising him enough that he punched himself in the face to try and get him off. Chuchule landed on his arm, the one that was holding the gun, before biting down on his finger. This one happened to be holding the gun trigger. The sentry ended up shooting itself in the foot before it lost balance and tumbled over the edge. It met its end with a loud boom.

Plachu and Chulatt quickly joined their brother and sister on the floor, and the quartet scrambled up to the control board. Platt then lifted his paw and pressed down on the large round button in the center.

o~o

Outside, Allura and Suzaku were overjoyed to see the particle barrier finally lower.

"It worked!" Suzaku exclaimed.

"They did it!" Allura agreed.

Not wasting another second, the pair rushed into the Castle to reclaim it as rightfully theirs.

o~o

Lelouch was still standing in the middle of the doorway, his hands casually raised above his head, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Where's the Red Paladin?" Sendak growled.

"She's on her way, I ran ahead of her," Lelouch said with a shrug.

"Hmph, smiling at your demise, are you, boy?"

"No," the Black Paladin chuckled, "I'm smiling at yours actually. Let me ask you something, Sendak. Are there any Galra out there that detest their own empire? If so, how exactly would they live their lives?"

Sendak sneered but answered him anyway. He might as well humor him, "They would spend what little remains of their lives in fear of the moment where I would inevitably find them. And when that happens, they'll be begging for death when I'm done with them!"

Sendak would've charged Lelouch right there, but something stopped him. He scowled. There was something strange about this Paladin. It was how he held himself, the pure confidence and pride in the aura around him. It reminded him of the way many elite Galra commanders and generals held themselves. Why it was the way he carried himself when on his command ship… no, it was more than that. He'd probably go as far to say it was more similar to Emperor Zarkon himself.

Lelouch smirked deviously at the Galra's hesitance, "What's wrong? Why not kill me? Your opponent is just a child. At least that's what Haxus thought before he died."

Kallen wasn't the only one shocked and nervous about the tone Lelouch was using. Milly and Rai, who were moments ago terrified for their friend and fellow Paladin, were now looking at him in surprise. What the quiznack was Lelouch doing?

"Or perhaps you realize that the only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed."

Sendak smirked evilly, "I couldn't agree more. Victory or death is the way of the Galra!"

"Very well then," Lelouch said, lowering his hands, one landing above his left I, "I command you… Die!"

Lelouch's hand flew from his face as his Geass glowed. The bird-like symbol flew into the commander's eyes. For a moment, his one real eye glowed red, but he then fell to the floor, clutching his head. Lelouch blinked and took a step back as well. He certainly wasn't expecting this outcome.

Sendak's cybernetic eye suddenly glowed purple, the red light vanishing from his real eye. Rai and Milly watched on in shock at this turn of events. The commander then unsteadily got back to his feet and smirked at Lelouch.

"So you paid a visit to the Druids as well," he smirked. Lelouch stepped back again, though not entirely out of surprise. He had a feeling his Geass wouldn't wholly work this time. But who were these 'Druid' people Sendak was talking about?

Sendak charged up his arm to attack, taking advantage of Lelouch's surprise, "Pity a waste of great potential!" His arm crashed down and would've hit Lelouch had he not leaped backward in time.

"Kallen now!" he shouted. The Red Paladin in question dashed out of the shadows and took a flying leap at the Galra, Bayard claws splayed out. Caught by surprise, Sendak didn't manage to knock Kallen away before the gauntlet enclosed around the side of his face. The 'eye' in the middle of the glove opened, and massive heat waves emanating from it.

Sendak howled in pain before he finally managed to bat Kallen off of him. Despite this, the Bayard already did a number on the Galra, half of his face burned, and his cybernetic eye having been melted off.

He charged at them in a rage again just as Suzaku and Allura entered the room.

Instinctively as Sendak came at him, Lelouch raised his hands, and the same red lightning from the first time shot out of his palm, hitting Sendak directly in the chest.

'I see,' said Lelouch as he stood by the hostages, 'I get it now. I can only do that when my Geass is active!'

Kallen took advantage of Sendak's fallen state to charge him again, but he recovered fast enough to bat her away. Suzaku charged head-on, swinging his katana expertly. As he slid under one of Sendak's gauntlet attacks, a bolt of blue, fired from the right and hit the purple energy connecting it to his shoulder socket.

"No!" Sendak snarled. He turned his furious gaze to the hostages, which was where the shot came from. Rivalz was propped up against one of the bridges ledges, having barely regained consciousness and had used his rifle Bayard to shoot out the connection. He grinned in victory just as he collapsed from exhaustion again.

As Sendak charged them, Milly and Rai together got to their feet and body-slammed into him. Despite losing his arm, the commander was still strong and threw them both aside one at a time.

Allura took Sendak's distraction to her advantage and rushed to the main computer, punching in a few codes. The three able-bodied Paladins, Milly and Rai, knocked unconscious again, helped to keep the Galra back and distracted.

At one point, Lelouch managed to sidestep behind Sendak and punch him in the back. His Geass was still on, so he ended up electrocuting the Galra from behind. Sendak howled in rage and pain. Suzaku then attempted to swing his sword towards him, but Sendak managed to ignore the pain enough to grab the blade before it hit. The Galra and Paladin were locked in a battle of strength as they struggled against the weapon.

"Everyone now!" Allura called out suddenly. Lelouch quickly jumped out of the way, and Suzaku quickly released his Bayard, which Sendak tossed to the side. But he was too late to block the giant, swinging kick, that Suzaku delivered spectacularly to his skull. It tumbled the Galra backward, landing against the purple crystal. One second later, the barrier surrounding the central deck shot up, effectively locking Sendak inside. The Galra got up and attempted to punch the wall down, but it was no use. He was trapped.

"Checkmate," Lelouch breathed heavily.

With Sendak successfully detained, the group quickly got to work freeing the others. Kallen slashed through Rai's restraints with her claw, and the moment he was free, Rai grabbed his own Bayard to free Milly.

Rivalz was also regaining consciousness as Suzaku knelt next to him.

"You okay, Rivalz?" he asked as he helped him sit up.

"We did it," the Blue Paladin huffed out an exhausted laugh, and smiled graciously at Suzaku "We make a good team."

"Yeah," Suzaku agreed with a nod, "we do."

o~o

Coran, C.C., and Shirley were still struggling to escape from the Balmera's mine shaft. Lasers were being fired at them from everywhere.

"We can't shake them!" Coran said in a panic, "We're not going to make it!"

Shirley looked at how much farther their escape path was. They would need a significant boost to get them out of the way of the ships. She looked desperately down at the console, her hand hovering over the extra booster button. It was their only chance.

"Uh, it may turn us into a giant fireball," Coran warned her.

"Maybe, but it's the best chance we've got! And we're going to die either way!"

Coran and Shirley looked ahead. More Galra cruisers were descending the shaft, trying to close in on them. Shirley was right; it was their only option.

"Fine. Fire in the hole!" Coran shouted as pressed down on the button.

Whatever Rai had attached to it was indeed only a prototype, as the force from it was strong enough to press Shirley back against the seat. C.C. in the back would've slammed against the side wall had she not had the foresight to brace herself. She made a mental note to have the Green Paladin add a few seat belts back here for future reference.

However, the booster did its job and shot the pod directly out the shaft and into the Balmera's atmosphere. A giant fireball trailed behind them from the Galra ships that crashed into each other, trying to pursue them.

Coran cheered in triumph as they zoomed off back into the stars.

"We did it!" Shirley breathed, slumping against the seat.

"Number five, you were quiznacking brilliant back there!" Coran suddenly cheered excitedly, "Why didn't you mention you could turn invisible before?! Oh, the possibilities! I must inform the Princess immediately of this!"

Shirley laughed a little as Coran continued to rant excitedly about Shirley's new power. She looked at the slight reflection of the metal the pod offered, looking at the new symbol decorating her iris and pupil. It looked like a crane ready to take flight. She'd been given the power she needed to help these people, and she swore she would make good on her promise to Shay. She and the team would return and rescue her. She and her family!

Something then clicked in Shirley's memory. A few days ago, C.C. had called Lulu and 'contractor' as well… is this how he knew her? How long ago did he meet her?

o~o

The trio arrived back at the Castle without further incident, and the Alteans wasted no time installing the new Crystal as they were filled in on what happened on both ends. The Castle's blue lights soon returned, and Sendak was detained in a holding cell in the Castle. They decided the Galra Crystal would be moved to the Green Lion's bay as Rai said he wanted to examine it. The moment the healing pods were back up and running, they wasted no time helping Rivalz into a cryo-suit and setting him inside. Soon he fell into a peaceful, healing sleep.

"After a day in here, he should be fully healed," Allura reassured them all.

"That's a relief," Milly sighed. She and Rai had been offered to go in the cryo pods as well when they mentioned their fight and torture from Sendak. Still, they reassured them that it wasn't anything serious, they just felt a little sore.

"Lelouch, Kallen," Rai said, "thank you for everything you did. You saved us."

"Yeah," Suzaku nodded, "I feel like you should stay. Be a part of the team... but I understand if you want to leave. Especially you, Lelouch," He really did. He knew how much Lelouch loved Nunnally and probably missed her too.

Lelouch smiled, however, "King Alfor told me about how close he was with the past Paladins." This statement took a surprised gasp from Allura, "He said they were like his family. I think I now know what he was talking about."

"You spoke to my father?" Allura asked.

"Yes. I wanted to get his opinion on the situation. And now I understand," he smirked, "So if you're willing to forgive me, I think I'll stick around. You, Kallen?"

The red-head in question smirked, "No duh! These guys would be helpless without us!" This caused the rest of the group to laugh good-heartedly.

"Let's stop Zarkon, for all our families," Lelouch said in finality.

"It's good to have back," Suzaku smiled before pulling them all into a group hug.

Lelouch knew this wasn't over, though. He remembered the vow he made during the battle. If he was to trust his team, and they trust him, they needed to know the truth about him. Once Rivalz woke up, he would tell them everything: about Geass, his heritage… and even about Zero…

o~o

She replayed the video for the sixth time. The seven faces flashing on the screen.

"There's no question... it's him." the knight said, biting her thumbnail. Her gaze was fixed on the platinum blonde's face.

"Prince Zephyr..."

She tightened her green ponytail and gripped her sword on her belt.

"If you're truly alive, I'll find you," she said, marching to the Emperor's throne room. If she could convince him to send her to Area 11, she could use all the resources there to find him. And his sister.

Nonette Ennegram swore it upon her title as Knight of Nine...

#Fanfiction #AU #Code Geass #Voltron #lelouch lamperouge #kallen kozuki #rai (lost colors)#suzaku kururugi #shirley fenette #milly ashford #rivalz cardemonde #princess allura #coran #sendak #balmera

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