Roots
Keith knew he should be listening, knew that he should be concentrating on what Lance and Allura were saying. He knew that it was important; he could see the crinkle across Allura’s forehead and the purse of Lance’s lips that were only there when the two were picking apart a big problem. He knew that he especially needed to be present right now when Shiro was visiting family with his mother, when Adam had run himself into the ground trying to set up a steady way to communicate with the Holt siblings (with no success), and Lance was still grimacing from another failed attempt to come out to his family that afternoon. Not to mention, Zarkon had apparently gathered a few hidden rebels to his cause and nearly overthrew Olkari again, causing a staggering amount of damage, and Keith knew that their entire family was reeling from the temporary loss of Pidge and Matt. He knew all of this, and he knew the others were aware he wasn’t paying attention from the periodic soft squeezes of Lance’s hand in his, from Kuron’s cryptic message that had locked Lance’s eyes on him all day, and the way Allura’s pace had slowed after a brief glance at her brother that not even Keith could decipher. The two had been diplomatic partners for over a phoeb before Keith joined in; they had silent communication down pat.
Right then, Keith wished he did too.
“It’s going to be our first formal Public Relations event!” Said Lance, pushing two fingers against the side of his temple and tightening his jaw; he was trying to hide a wince. “I still think having a panel is the best idea. I know that having all of Voltron available isn’t going to happen again (and probably shouldn’t if Hunk’s stomach and Pidge’s rage about not being in her lab are anything to go by), but I know I would feel a lot better as a civilian if I could see the faces of everyone defending me.”
“While that is true, the others are not prepared for something like this,” argued Allura. “If we want to maximize its effectiveness, it would be most prudent to present the Black Paladins, Shiro, and myself. You and I are trained in diplomacy, and the three of us will be the faces of this. Shiro has been missing for two decaphoebs and, from what I hear, has great standing on Earth, so his participation in an initial meeting seems like it would gain us credibility early on.”
“So would Pidge and Hunk if they were able to speak!” Shot back Lance. “Listening to Pidge go on about her weaponry unit and defensive advancements? People immediately know that we have an expert with us. Plus, if we’ve got Hunk explaining Lion mechanics and going over our machinery, then they’ll see we know what we’re doing. We need to present strongly as a team of the best.”
Allura’s lips tightened, and Lance’s fingers dug deeper into his temple.
“And when Pidge inevitably begins discussing the experimental technology we are developing to stop the Galra? And when Hunk reveals the mechanics behind some Galra weaponry that could terrify Earth?” She replied, teeth digging into her lips as she propped her chin up with a fist. “We shall need to have some sort of briefing session with them.”
“That’ll go out the window the tick they’re on stage,” grumbled Lance, rubbing at his eyes, and Keith’s heart seized in his chest; since when had his partner’s bags gotten so deep?
“You and I have successfully been the representatives of Voltron many times even when we needed to impress committees of experts,” pointed out Allura. “We are a team. We cover each other’s weaknesses in addition to highlighting their strengths. Hunk and Pidge crumble under stage pressure, and Coran becomes a bit…excitable.”
“Yeah,” replied Lance with a snort, a grin pulling up his lips and a silent wave of laughter rippling between him and his sister. “So I remember!”
Allura’s smile brought out a shimmer to her cheeks, and Keith sighed. This was stupid. There were three people here, three, but only two of them were talking. And it wasn’t even Lance or Allura’s fault! The two of them had asked his opinion repeatedly, trying to draw him into the conversation, but he would always space out before they could even finish the topic at hand, much less the meeting itself. He couldn’t focus; his stomach was consumed by a grating fog, darkness swirling in his gut like poison and pulsing through his chest. His throat was tight, his hands limp, his mind in a thousand places, a million places, in all the places he knew. It was everywhere except at this table. So why was he even here?
“But all the aliens we’ve dealt with had already heard about Voltron; they knew we were a team, so it didn’t matter if they saw everyone,” refuted Lance. “Earth doesn’t. We need a show of unity and one of expertise.”
Allura let out a sigh that seemed to come from the bottom of her soul, and Lance’s eyes flitted to the table, their blue shine dulled by the night outside. “Maybe we should decide tomorrow.”
“No,” interjected Keith, his voice snapping up both Lance and Allura’s heads, their eyes gleaming with a fresh shot of joy as they lighted on him, and some of the darkness loosened its grip on his stomach. “Whatever we decide, we need to figure it out now! We need time to prepare everyone if they’re going to be at the panel with us!”
“What do you think, Keith?” Asked Allura, leaning forward so fast her curls swung forward and nearly hit her in the face. “Should we bring in Pidge and Hunk? Do you think it would help the meeting?”
Lance’s grin split his face as Keith looked up, his fingers soft despite their fierce grip around his palm, and Keith felt the darkness seeping back in. Not enough, snarled that one part of his brain Keith preferred tearing apart gladiators to drown out, you don’t deserve that face. You can’t live up to it. You could never live up to anything, you could never save anyone. If you could, you would be focusing right now instead of crying about where you’re going in a few weeks. And that’s your fault too. You’re a weak paladin. Soon, you won’t be a paladin at all.
“I don’t know,” mumbled Keith, shrugging and fixing his gaze on the table so he wouldn’t see the disappointment in his teammates’ faces. “Up to you guys.”
Lance and Allura glanced at one another, another silent exchange going rapid-fire across the table, and Keith sank back into his chair. He could feel the empty chairs dominating the room (obviously, the reasonable part of his brain hissed, you guys are using a meeting room for a three-way conversation, there are empty chairs), the harsh lighting beating atop his head, the tension building in the slope of Lance’s back, the fatigue wearing down Allura’s shoulders, the overwhelming feeling that he was drowning in his own skin, in the grief floating through him as if searching for a home, in the endless cosmos of pain that had been his and only his for nine years—
He couldn’t deal with this right now.
“In that case, we shall have Pidge and Hunk on the final panel,” stated Allura, clapping her hands as if to indicate her decision, as if it wasn’t meant to draw Keith into the present. “That will be all for today. It is late, and I imagine we all have family wondering where we are.”
Keith blinked. He had…family? Wondering where he w—oh.
Shiro and Adam. Krolia too. They were probably waiting at Lance’s home with a tray of food out for him and their eyes pinned to the clock because they knew what was coming up and they were worried and Keith had probably worried them and Hunk, probably Allura and Lance too, and they didn’t even know and why couldn’t he do anything right—
“Meeting adjourned. I have sent everyone a message indicating our decisions and the nature of our tardiness,” added Allura, shooting a quick smile to Keith. “Remember, we will all need to come in early tomorrow so Hunk can hand out the emergency communicators he made. Until then, as hard as I know this will be for the two of you, do not be attacked,” she teased, gathering her bag and handing Lance his own so he wouldn’t have to let go of Keith’s hand. “I believe I will try my hand at these hoverbikes you Earthlings so love. Lance, would you see Keith home like a gentleman, please?”
“Excuse you, I’m always a gentleman!” Squawked Lance as Allura strode from the room with a wave of her hand and a parting,
“See you tomorrow, Keith!”
“Hey!”
Keith wished he could find it in himself to chuckle at their antics or join in teasing Lance or cling to his boyfriend and join in his display of affront at Allura’s implications. But his stomach just twisted, his fingers twitching against Lance’s, because god he had always wanted this and even now, after everything, how was his past still dragging him back—
“Come on!” Chirped Lance, tugging Keith forward as he glanced back, wide blue eyes catching the light of the room in a sparkle that kick-started Keith’s heart regardless of the fog dominating his chest. “I’ll drive us home in just a tick; there’s something I want to show you!”
Keith scrambled, nearly tripping over his own feet in the flurry that was Lance. His partner whipped out his phone, tapping a quick message with his thumb and grinning over his shoulder at Keith. “Adam and Shiro know! I don’t have Krolia’s number, so I’ll just count on them to make sure your alien spy assassin mother of death doesn’t track me down and knife me!”
Keith smiled at that one. Things with Krolia had been…oddly better ever since their fight. To say the least. The tick she could, the taller woman had folded him into a tight hug, apologies tumbling from her lips and hands trembling slightly against his back. Then she pulled away and, eyes practically glowing in the light, scanned him for any injuries with the face of a warrior and the touch of a mother. And when she softly prodded at his neck, drawing an involuntary giggle, she had smirked and commented that she was ticklish there too, and Keith felt a pulse of golden joy sweep over him as he grinned in return.
He had spent nineteen decaphoebs without her, nineteen decaphoebs cursing her for abandoning him and his father out there, and that time weighed in everything they did together. It lined his words as he spoke to her, it slipped into his eyes when he glanced at her, it twitched in each touch they shared. The pain of all they couldn’t redo sizzled in the air between them. And the mind control had been the spark, their fight exploding into a firestorm Keith hadn’t known he needed.
Because, when it ended, it took all his rage with it and left behind only the piercing, throbbing desire he knew from his childhood: he wanted his mom. And she had been there, smiling at him as the quintessence glowed golden around them, her hand on his shoulder and praise on her lips. Keith wanted a future with her in it. He wanted her to be his mom again someday. He wanted them to get there together. And it wouldn’t be without more fights, more tears, and more pain, but this was the first time he felt like it could be worth it. Like, someday, he wanted to call Krolia his mom.
He told her as much, and she had hugged him until he definitely heard something in his back squeak out a protest. So Keith sighed, smiled, and hugged back with all his might just in case he could make her back creak too. He was still trying on that last one.
“Here!” Said Lance, grinning as he plunked a helmet down over Keith’s head and tightened it beneath his chin. “Be sure to hang on tight!”
Lance swung a leg over the hoverbike, revving the engine and smirking over his shoulder at Keith. “I’ve been told my driving is…creative.”
Keith arched an eyebrow.
“Should I text Shiro my final words?”
“Eh, maybe?”
“Lance!”
Lance giggled, patting the seat behind him as his free hand messed around with the music.
“Come on, trust me!” He chirped, and Keith felt a pulse at how different this was from their first hoverbike adventure.
No rushed jumps onto the bike, no dragging Shiro up, no Garrison chasing them, no strangers, no wild looks, no screaming, no shut up and trust me! Just the soft smile of his boyfriend and the wiggling hand he offered.
Keith felt the gloom clench, fisting until his stomach muscles were pulled taut, and all his breath evaporated in his throat.
Then it went limp, and Keith folded his fingers over Lance’s, sliding onto the bike just as it began to hover. He wrapped his arms around Lance and leaned against his back, sighing and closing his eyes as Lance leaned forward as if to shield him from the world. As if to create a safe haven for Keith to experience his emotions, to look right at them and take care of them, to treat himself gently while he handled his problems. As if to tell Keith he wasn’t alone. Keith had Lance if he needed him.
“Lead the way, Sharpshooter,” breathed Keith, and Lance grinned as the power built in the hoverbike’s engines.
“Hold tight, Samurai!” He crowed, slamming the pedal and shooting away with a whoop as the wind whistled in their ears and drowned out the voices crowding Keith’s mind, leaving only the warmth of Lance’s back in his arms and the feeling of flying he had dreamed of since he was a kid.
Lance cut the engines, the hum of the hoverbike ripped from beneath Keith’s hands, and flashed a grin over his shoulder.
“Okay, all passengers aboard the LanceyLance Express may now disembark!” He said in a squeaky imitation of a train conductor’s voice. “Please watch your footing, as there is a slight step on the way down.”
“Oh, shut up,” replied Keith with a snort, hopping off the hoverbike and sending up tiny puffs of dust as his boots clunked to the ground. “You coming or not, Sharpshooter?”
“No, I just brought my boyfriend here to then ride off cackling into the night and leave him without a ride home at a park, but I let him keep his phone so he could call our ultra-powered family and sic them on me,” deadpanned Lance, swinging one leg over the hoverbike and arching an eyebrow as he pulled his helmet off.
Keith tossed his own helmet to Lance, cackling as his boyfriend let out a squawk and tried to juggle the multicolored helmets. Lance gave him the stink-eye, though Keith caught the slight twitch of lips that tried to fight back his smile. His gloom softened.
“So, a park?” He asked, cocking his head as Lance slid the keys into his pocket and held out his free hand for Keith to take.
“Yep!” Replied Lance, popping the p and starting towards the park. “I used to take Nadia and Sylvio here a lot on the weekends, especially when we first moved to the U.S. We had a park that looked kinda like it back home, so I thought it might make them feel more comfortable! It sure did for me,” he added with a laugh.
Keith hummed, squeezing Lance’s hand as his eyes roved over the park surrounding them. It was mainly green slopes, an occasional tree rising to provide shade, and he could almost see Nadia and Sylvio climbing up one as Lance watched from below, arms braced to catch them if they fell even as he shouted encouragement. He could hear the vague traces of laughter as Lance ran along the hills, a kid dangling from each outstretched arm, twirling until they all fell on their backs in a particularly soft patch Lance had somehow spotted. He could practically taste the sandwiches Lance had specially made for a picnic celebrating the two’s performances in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory despite the fact that he had tests in a couple of movements. And he could feel Lance cradling his hand, just like when he used to lead his niece and nephew down the cobblestone path lined with purple flowers and lamps to a circular pavilion with a blooming tree in the center. He could feel the memories tingling just beneath Lance’s skin, the laughter already sparkling in his eyes, the love in the grin he threw Keith’s way.
Keith looked up at the tree, lanterns shining from its branches, and the fog settled from his chest down into his stomach. He breathed in deeply, a faint smile pricking at his lips as he saw Lance’s shoulders untense at the gesture. He squeezed his boyfriend’s hand.
“It’s beautiful, Lance,” he said softly. “Thanks for showing it to me.”
Lance chuckled, lacing his fingers with Keith’s and placing them on his side. Keith blinked, and Lance brought his hand up to Keith’s shoulder, his free palm sliding to clasp Keith’s.
“Awww, come on!” He replied to Keith’s blank expression, leaning forward to brush their noses together. “I know you know how to slow dance! I’ve seen you do it in a rainy astral plane, you can do it in a park!”
“Wha—whoa—Lance!”
Lance let out a ringing peal of laughter, spinning in a circle with his partner and sending lantern light rippling over his face like sunlight over a lake. Keith closed his eyes, leaned into his boyfriend’s touch, and let himself drown in the safety that was Lance. He would trust Lance with his life. Lance gave everything he had to those he loved. He gave his heart, his soul, his work, his life, all of him. Keith wanted to treasure that.
But he didn’t want to take advantage of it either.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“Shhhhhh, you’ve got nothing to apologize for,” replied Lance, his eyes catching sparkles from the lights and exploding them into fireworks with his smile. “I’m here for you if you need anything. I mean, I’m not going to make you say anything, obviously. But,” Lance said softly, the words slow off his tongue even as a gentleness seeped into his smile that made Keith’s heart ache, “if you ever want a hug or cute pictures or an ear to listen or advice, I’m your guy. Well, actually I’m your boyfriend, but—uh—I mean—”
“Lance—”
“I mean, I’m your gay—quiznak, brain, not what I was going for!”
“Lance—!”
“I mean I’m happy to help!” Cried Lance, twirling Keith a bit more enthusiastically than he probably needed to. “No matter what! I don’t care about time of day or night, so, like, don’t hesitate! I love you, and I want to be here for you!”
Keith planted his feet on the ground, hands slipping free of Lance’s grip to cup his cheeks and press their foreheads together. He let out a long, slow breath.
“Lance,” he whispered, “you don’t have to.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to drop everything to be here for me, you know. Just because you’re my boyfriend doesn’t mean you have to—to care so much. You don’t have to take care of me. It’s okay, Lance.”
Lance’s eyes flashed electric blue, the Altean markings bobbing on his cheeks sending a searing light over his face and catching like lightning bolts in his irises. He brought both hands up as if to clap them against the side of his head, and squished Keith’s cheeks with a terrifying tenderness. “Lan—”
“I want to be here for you!” Snapped Lance. “So—just—shut up! And knock it off with the whole I-can-handle-this-on-my-own-so-no-one-needs-to-see-my-suffering and just rely on us! On all of us! We want to help you, we want to support you, but we can’t do anything unless you tell us what you want!”
Keith blinked. Lance squished his cheeks again, eyes glowing in the light off his Altean marks. “Please, Keith. I’d tear down the stars if it made you feel more safe, I’d sing until my voice gave out if it brought you even a shred of comfort, I’d fight until I couldn’t stand if it meant you laughed freely again. Please, let me protect the heart you’ve shared with me.”
Keith blinked again, but this time it was harsher, a slam of his lids as if he was trying to crush something out of his eyes, and Lance’s hands became impossible softer. “You don’t have to tell us what’s going on. Just, please, rely on us a little bit here? We’re a family, Keith. We’re going to support you, no matter what. We love you.”
“I know!” Cried Keith, palms covering Lance’s as he looked up, violet eyes catching the glow of his partner’s markings. “I know you guys do; I really do. I just…I’m trying to do this right. I—look, this is a lot for me. Knowing you guys care about me is one thing, but……asking you to care about my life is another.”
Lance squished his cheeks in response.
“But we already care, Keith,” he breathed. “About you. About your life. We’ve always cared. You don’t have to face your demons alone anymore.”
Keith scrunched his nose. He could feel it prickling at his skin again, the cosmic memories he shared with his partner. This was where Lance had folded around Sylvio, his back against a tree as he cradled the crying boy to his chest on Mother’s Day. Lance had yanked Nadia back from a fight here as she howled, kicked, and screeched that she wasn’t dirty even if she had darker skin, tears in his eyes. Lance had held both kids close to him and sang them songs his abuela had built his childhood on, tears hidden behind his eyes because Iverson had screamed at him again in class, had told him he was a failure who’d never amount to anything. This park wasn’t just where Lance, Nadia, and Sylvio had come to connect to their old home. It was where they had forged a new home in the United States.
A home Lance was inviting him into.
It’s just because he doesn’t know, hissed that serpent in his brain, it’s because he hasn’t seen how many homes you’ve wrecked, how many you’ve run out of, how many you—
But Lance had. Lance had shared his memories, had seen all the foster homes that had driven Keith away and the ones that had held him too close and the ones that had ignored him and the ones that considered conversion therapy. Lance had seen everything. He knew what he was doing when he offered Keith his hand, his heart, his home.
And if there was anyone whose judgement Keith trusted, it was Lance.
“Keith?!” Shrieked Lance, nearly jumping out of his skin as Keith slammed his fist into the palm of his free hand, cheeks puffing up into a pout beneath his fingers. “Are you okay?!”
“Yes. You’re right, and I’m sorry,” replied Keith, pulling back and lacing his fingers with Lance’s, a smile spreading over his lips. “I’ll work on…on getting used to it. I’m just not used to having people who care yet. I’ll get there.”
A faint breeze carried through the courtyard, sending lights dancing through Lance’s wide eyes, and the faintest smell of the flowers surrounding them drifted with the wind. Keith giggled as he saw Lance’s nose twitch just slightly; he could practically feel Lance’s tactile senses cataloging the memory away. No image could play behind Lance’s eyes without a sensation running through his body, and Keith could feel all of them as long as Lance’s hand was in his.
“I know you will,” stated Lance, squeezing their hands and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “Come on, I’ll drive you home. I don’t want Shiro or Adam to kill me, much less Krolia!”
Keith snorted out a laugh and brought up their intertwined hands to kiss Lance’s knuckles, a flicker of thought passing through him.
“Yeah, that’d really suck if you went and died on me before we even had our first month anniversary,” he teased.
Because Keith knew it wouldn’t be their last.
“It’s fairly self-explanatory,” said Hunk, placing the white metal ovals into his teammates’ hands, a half-hidden yawn coloring his words. “There’s a color on each one that corresponds to everyone’s colors. Keith’s black one has a K on it, Lance’s has an L, Shiro is blue, I’m yellow, ……Pidgeisgreen, Allura’s red, Coran is orange, Adam is grey, Krolia’s purple, Matt is pink. And the rainbow colored button will alert all of us,” finished the engineer with an extra yawn and a longing glance at the door. “So, uh, is there anything else? Because I kinda need to finish calibrating these new blasters…”
“Uh, actually!” Cut in Keith, tugging at his fingers and gnawing at his lip as his team turned to give him their full attention. “I do have something to ask you guys. A favor.”
Keith swallowed, rubbing his thumb over the fingerless gloves he had inherited from his father, and closed his eyes. Because, once, he had been the one climbing a tree while his father shouted encouragement from below. Once, Keith had been the one dangling from his father’s arm, he had been the one stealing bites from his dad’s sandwiches on their picnics, and he had been the one led by the hand to secret hideouts that meant something only to the two of them. Keith had been the one held close whenever Mother’s Day came around, the one pulled away from fights when his humanity was questioned, the one clung to and hidden from his father’s tears after a rough day. He had been half of a tiny family who faced the world head-on, them against the universe, hand-in-hand throughout anything and everything. Keith had been his father’s little soldier, his pride, his love, his life, his everything.
And it had gone both ways. When Keith’s father went into that fire and didn’t come out, Keith lost his entire world. His father, his family, his hero, his trust, his love, his everything. All of it went up in smoke. And if his dad, who was stronger than anyone Keith had ever met, couldn’t hold onto him, then who could?
“In a few weeks it’s, uh……it’s the ten-year anniversary of my dad’s death,” said Keith softly, staring down at his gloves. “I’m going to visit his grave in the morning. If…if you can, I’d like for you guys to come,” he murmured, tipping his head up and swallowing. “I want to show Dad the family I have now. I want him to see that he doesn’t have to worry about me. Not anymore.”
Keith wanted to believe his dad had been among the stars this whole time, had watched as Keith fumbled his way through this war back to his family, had seen the glow Lance brought to his eyes, the tension Hunk drained from his shoulders, the shrieks Pidge pulled from his mouth, the open arms he offered Shiro, the way he and Allura danced around each other on the battlefield like they were born to fight and trust together, the pranks he pulled with Adam, the stories he and Coran traded, the endless rounds of rock-paper-scissors he had lost to Matt (eventually, he had just pulled out Alien and destroyed everything while cackling), the soft looks he had begun to share with Krolia. Keith wanted to believe that his dad had watched his space family form, that he was trying to peer through the Garrison roof right then and see what his son was doing now. He wanted to believe he had never truly lost his dad.
“I, uh, already asked Pidge but…will you guys come with me?”
“Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeith!” Wailed Hunk, scooping the Black Paladin off the ground in a bear hug. “Of course I’ll come, buddyyyyyy! Thank you for asking meeeee!”
“It would be my greatest honor to attend,” promised Allura, placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling softly. “Thank you, Keith.”
“You know I’ll be there,” said Shiro, ruffling Keith’s hair and grinning until his face looked like it was going to split in two.
“Where else would I be?” Agreed Adam, poking Keith’s forehead and beaming at the smaller man.
“I WOULD BE MORE THAN PLEASED TO ATTEND, NUMBER FOUR!” Cried Coran, tackling Keith from his perch in Hunk’s arms. “I PROMISE TO LEARN AND CONDUCT THE PROPER EARTHEN RITUALS WITH ALL OF MY HEART, MY BOY!”
“Thank you, Keith,” murmured Krolia, pressing her palm to his back. “I will gladly come.”
Lance grinned, leaning forward and pressing a soft peck to Keith’s lips, one hand cradling Keith’s cheek as if to hold up his heart under the sheer torrent of love coming from his family. Keith smiled. No need to worry, whispered that one voice Keith treasured above all else: the one that never seemed to stop believing. I’ve been waiting so long for this, I already have a ship built of faith to hold me up under this.
“Thanks for inviting me, Mullet,” murmured Lance. “And you know I’m happy to come. Plus, I have leftover incense sticks in my house; I think Shiro mentioned you liked the tradition?”
Keith chuckled, relaxing into the crushing grip of Hunk and Coran, the steady hold of Krolia and Allura, the light touches of Adam and Shiro, and the warmth of Lance. And he swore, for just one tick, that he felt his dad pat him on the back just like when he used to pass a test and run home with a smile too big for such small, chubby cheeks.
Keith would blame the tears on the tight hugs of his family.
“Thank you, guys. I really love you all.”
“And we love you, Keith,” promised Allura, squeezing his shoulder as tears lined her eyes. “We always will.”
“No matter what,” agreed Lance, smile outshining the sun and settling like a warm quilt over Keith. “We’re your family, bud. Nothing’s going to change that.”
“Forever,” said Shiro softly.
“And always,” echoed Adam.
“We won’t let you go,” managed Hunk between his tears.
“Never again,” said Krolia firmly.
“You will always have a home with us,” stated Coran. “So don’t hesitate to ask us for anything, my boy. We love you.”
Keith knew that. Somehow, in just one decaphoeb, he had come to know so much about his family. And, more than anything else, he knew these people would always be waiting with open arms, open doors, an open love for him.
His gloom crawled away under the gleaming laughter of his family, and Keith giggled as Hunk began to crush him, Lance cried out something about him turning blue, Coran started running around the room screeching, Allura cried out a protest to his reaction, Krolia raised an eyebrow, Shiro dropped his forehead into his hand, and Adam muttered something about them never having anything nice. Keith sighed, his fears falling away at the glowing love of his family.
And, hidden in the light of the day, a star gleamed brightly as Keith finally began to laugh.