Crossfire
Lance giggled as he tucked Sylvio and Nadia into bed together, pressing kisses to their foreheads and their noses just to see them wrinkle.
“Ahora duerme mucho. ¡Tendrás que ser valientes protectores de malvavisco mañana!” He said, waving a finger warningly as he shifted Nadia’s favorite bear to a more optimal cuddling position. “Y no lo olvides, te quiero mucho. Te veré por la mañana, mi pequeña royals.”
He popped extra bubble kisses to their cheeks, leaving shrieks of laughter in their wake, and strode from the room with a flourishing wave as they yawned their good nights after him. He stretched, shoulders letting out a series of shrill CRACKs as he descended the stairs, drawing Keith’s eyes to him as he set a tray of cups on the table.
“Careful, with all that cracking, Red’s going to think you’re fire and try to outdo you with her lava,” he teased, smirking at the prone bodies of Shiro, Hunk, Adam, and Krolia flopped on the table. “And Black’s going to think you’re all dead and toss you into an alternate reality.”
Lance cackled, hopping over the banister and dropping a kiss on Keith’s cheek.
“And Starbucks would ask you to be a barista,” he teased, snagging a cup of chamomile tea from the party Keith’s platter was having, and draining half of it in one gulp. “How are y’all doing?”
“Dead, deceased, expired, throw me into an alternate reality where oceans are made of coffee,” deadpanned Shiro without raising his head from the table.
Lance raised an eyebrow, sipping his tea as he continued to lounge on the table and glance at Keith. His boyfriend chuckled, swallowing a torrent of marshmallows on a sip of hot chocolate.
“Iverson and Sanda that exhausting?” He asked, patting Krolia’s back with the slow reluctance of someone who had just been given a random cat. “I thought they were going to ease up on us since we had that ‘stunning’ victory the other day, especially since we were back before the sun was up?”
“No, it’s not about that. They were actually civil today,” contributed Adam with a snort, “except for when they mentioned to us that the public relations event was coming up and we had no plan for it.”
“What?” Snapped Lance, a growl tearing from his lips. “We have a plan for it! ‘Lura and I submitted it over a movement ago! We’re going to have a panel session where everyone stands up and talks about what being a paladin means to them, some of their best memories in space, and then make some hyper-determined statement on how we’re totally going to destroy Zarkon and Haggar. Adam, Matt, Krolia, and Coran have introductions written by myself, Pidge, Keith, and Allura, and then they’ll talk about being defenders of the universe, best memories, strong statements, etc. Then we’ve got an open Q&A. I’m sending Iverson into the crazy crowd with a mic,” he added with a smirk. “We got this finalized ages ago!”
“Yeah, but the public relations event is in a few quintants and, with Pidge, Allura, Matt, and Coran still in space, they’re insisting we come up with a backup plan,” replied Adam with a groan, sliding under his glasses to rub at his aching eyes. “And with both Pidge and Matt having been gone for nearly two weeks, they’re getting antsy.”
“Oh, they’re getting antsy,” snarled Keith, nearly slamming his hot chocolate through the table. “That’s rich from the people who abandoned Shiro, Matt, and Dr. Holt in space for years without so much as an investigation! And they don’t really care about either Pidge or Matt, they just want the data and Voltron because they’re too afraid to go out there and face a single Galra fighter on their own!”
Lance’s other eyebrow shot up at his boyfriend’s outburst, and he slid a hand over Keith’s shoulder, rubbing his thumb in a soft massage over his shoulder blade. Keith glanced away, and Shiro’s lips pursed just as Hunk’s eyes dropped to his hands like he could build a solution if he tried hard enough. Lance squeezed Keith’s shoulder.
“Hey, man, you doing okay over there?”
“Yeah,” spat Keith, pinching his nose as his thick black glasses rode up; Shiro had insisted he start wearing them full time when the contacts interfered in another fight because they had been in too long. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Just…really worried about Pidge.”
Lance hummed, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to drown out the thoughts those few words attacked him with by slurping dramatically on his tea. According to Shiro, his link with Pidge had exploded, reigning freaking shrapnel throughout his mind, after having been invaded by some incredibly powerful force that he was guessing to be Haggar. He had concluded by saying that Pidge must have forcibly shattered their bond to protect him, but Lance had just bitten his lip and looked away. Breaking a bond and having it explode…those were different. Even when his link had broken with Pidge, it had simply shattered, and that had been caused by both of them passing out! Lance didn’t even want to think about what could prompt the explosion of a bond. That being said, he had no intention of sharing those fears with the rest of the team. The only thing it would accomplish was even more stress, and Lance was pretty sure all of their hearts would collectively give out if that happened.
“Aw, is someone forgetting about the time Pidge tied him to the rafters with her bayard and left him to hang like a grumpy cocoon until he apologized for dropping her headphones?” Teased Lance, nudging his boyfriend lightly and stealing a marshmallow out of his hot chocolate; at this rate, he’d have to hide them from Keith in addition to his little royals. “Don’t worry, Samurai, she can handle herself. She’ll come back with the craziest stories ever, some new robot, and way too many flash drives, I guarantee it.”
He just wished he believed his own words.
But Keith blew out a short breath, nodding quickly, and flashed Lance a smile. He turned his hand over, intertwining their fingers, and dropped a kiss on Lance’s Altean markings.
“You’re right, especially about the flash drive part,” he added with a giggle.
“And you forgot about the part where she’ll be insanely dehydrated and definitely overworked,” chimed in Hunk, and Lance let out a barking laugh.
“No way, man, she’s got Matt with her. You know he’s been shoving a bottle of water down her throat daily.”
“The epic battle in the vents: Will Pidge Hydrate or Will Matt Die-drate?” Said Hunk in his deep announcer’s voice, imitating a very tinny bell afterwards. “Round three, begin! And they’re off!”
“Matt gets her into a promising lock to start off with, but then she goes for the kneecaps!” Chimed in Keith, and Lance whooped at the light that was creeping back into his boyfriend’s eyes.
“Matt is down, but what’s this! Folks, he got his arms around Pidge’s stomach and has flipped her too! Both siblings are on the ground, how will this turn out now?” Jumped in Adam, drumming his hands on the table excitedly, and Krolia glanced up with a raised eyebrow.
“If she wants instant victory, she’ll kick him in the groin of course,” she said, head tilted and mouth curved in a questioning line. “I have found this maneuver very consistently useful throughout the galaxy.”
The table went dead silent for a full tick, all the boys glancing at one another in vague terror as Krolia blinked.
“…So instead of that, she punches him in the gut,” supplied Shiro.
“Yep—”
“—Absolutely—”
“—Sounds about right—”
“—Oh yeah—”
“—Definitely.”
“And with that exhilarating conclusion, the gremlin has escaped without water…for now,” concluded Hunk, leaning low as if he was telling a horror story, and Lance threw his head back to let out a sunshine laugh.
Dios, it felt good to just mess around with his family like this. When he remembered the lonely nights leading up to Kuron’s time in cryofreeze, the vargas he spent questioning his place on the team, wondering if they even cared, playing video games to try and ignore his thoughts, all he could do was throw his arms around these warm, caring, gentle people that had become his family and thank everything holy that they had come so far. He could never ask for anything more than this. Well, he’d like to actually come out to his family without his siblings interrupting him with incessant questions about his time in space, but this…this was still bliss.
“……Papi?” Came a soft whisper, tears staining the word, and Lance’s blood turned to ice in a tick.
He whirled, already rising to his feet before he even saw the two shaking children clutching the railing, their eyes blown wider than the moon and hands locked in each other’s as if they were holding on for dear life.
“Hola, mi princesita, mi principito,” called Lance as Keith stepped over to join him at the base of the stairwell. “¿Ustedes dos tenían una pesadilla?”
“Sí,” murmured Sylvio, ducking a little behind Nadia as if to hide his tears, and Lance’s shoulders rose like an iron wall to guard his children from the world.
“Keith, can you make some more of that tea and meet me upstairs in their room?” He asked, tilting his head towards the kitchen even as his eyes darted up the stairs. “I’m going to find a nice picture book for them and get them tucked in.”
Shiro propped his chin up on his hand with a faint hum as Keith darted from the room without so much as a nod, his pink jacket swaying after him and the faintest rustle of his growing ponytail drowned out by Hunk’s cooing over the cute family. Adam smiled, sipping his tea, and Krolia glanced away as Lance scooped both kids into his arms and carried them back upstairs with promises of an exciting Papichoo express trip!
Lance ducked upstairs, cuddling Nadia and Sylvio close to his chest as their cheeks dug into his hoodie.
“Lo siento, mi cariños,” he whispered as Nadia stifled a whimper; she had never liked being that vulnerable in front of anyone but him and Sylvio and, recently, Keith. “Estaremos allí pronto, lo prometo.”
Sylvio clung to him, and Lance tried to ignore the thundering of his heart against his chest at the familiar heat radiating from his little royals. He had felt it a thousand times, the racing pulse heat of harsh breathing, of flashing memories, of terrors of the past haunting the present. He had seen it in his teammates’ eyes, had felt it in Keith’s body when he stumbled into Lance’s bedroom with a panic attack racing through his veins, and would never forget the ones that kept Shiro awake for nights on end, too afraid to close his eyes. He had to be wrong, he had to be wrong, had to be wrong, something like that was impossible. He was just projecting, just afraid because the pain that the paladins had faced down was coming back to attack them, just overprotective. After all, it was just the…fifth night in a row that one of them had been so shaken by a nightmare that they came down to grab him and, ever since the mission against Sendak, it had become both of them consistently.
Lance kept up a low stream of reassurances as he slid into the bedroom, tapping the door shut with his foot and bustling over to the bed, his heart climbing into his throat. The blankets were thrown all over the place, the pillows were askew, and even Nadia’s favorite stuffed bear was laying on the floor. It was nearly identical to Keith’s bed after he had one of those nightmares.
“There you go,” he murmured as he lowered them onto the bed, his Spanish even softer than his movements to join them on the bed. “Hey, everything’s okay. I’ve got you guys.”
Nadia latched onto his side, burying her face into his chest, and Sylvio was barely a split tick behind his sister. Lance reeled, feet skidding against the floor to find his balance as he hugged his trembling royals close to him. “Whoa—!”
“Promise?” Begged Nadia, balling his t-shirt into her hands as her tears soaked into the fabric. “P-promise?”
“Of course, Nadia,” soothed Lance, rubbing circles into her back as he dropped a kiss onto the crown of her head. “I’m right here, see? I’m back. And I’m never letting go of you two again, okay? You’re my little prince and my little princess; I have to stay around until you’re the happiest king and queen in alllllll of the universe!”
Sylvio hiccuped, large brown eyes streaming with tears rising to lock with Lance’s and shatter his heart into pieces because he had done this dios mios he had done this to his kids—
“And there aren’t any lasers, right?” Begged Sylvio, sucking in a shuddering breath as Keith cracked open the door softly. “L-Leo’s fine? Everyone’s okay a-and the school isn’t shattered and nothing’s burning, right? Papi, everybody’s safe, right?”
Lance’s world spun like a top, his stomach bottomed out down to his feet, and his entire body felt like it had been lit on fire.
He had failed.
Dios, this was all his fault. He had let this happen, had let those ships get to Earth, had let them shoot at his kids’ elementary school, had let them hurt his kids—!
“Everything’s okay now, Sylvio,” promised Lance, squeezing his little royals close to him and rubbing their backs as Keith crept closer, tea in hand. “Everyone’s safe. Leo is just fine, I saw him the other day; he was getting a new set of nerf guns so that he could blitz you guys during the game tomorrow. Shhh, everything’s okay, it was just a dream,” he murmured, the words coming to him automatically even as his mind was screaming a cacophony of you failed, you let them down, you did this to them, you hurt your kids, you’re not good enough, not enough, never enough, never good enough—!
Keith set the cups on the bedside table and sat beside Lance, the bed creaking softly as he placed a hand on each of the twins’ backs.
“Feel that?” He whispered, his palm firm against their soft pajamas. “You’re here now. You’re in your bedroom, safe and sound. Your papi’s here to protect you from anything else, and no one would dare challenge a Paladin of Voltron.”
Okay, so maybe many beings would, but none of them were on Earth, and Keith wasn’t in the mood to mention that minor detail.
“See?” Murmured Lance, pressing a kiss to each crinkled forehead. “Tío Keith’s here too; you didn’t know him before all that. So that must be over, and I promise that everyone walked away perfectly safe.”
Thank everything holy they had managed to prevent any casualties. If only they could have saved his kids from this suffering too…
“You’re safe,” promised Keith, patting the twins awkwardly on the back as they continued to sniffle softly. “Everyone is okay. It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare.”
Lance’s throat closed up, and he nearly bit through his lip trying to lock the tears back. He could cry later about being a failure; his kids needed him now.
“And we’ll stay here until you fall asleep,” swore Lance, drawing back just enough to meet Nadia’s eyes and wipe away the tear tracks speeding down her cheeks. “We’ll be here to keep the scary dreams away.”
Nadia jerked out a nod, and Sylvio whimpered quietly. Keith offered Nadia a cup of tea, his hand gentle but stable on her back as she took her first sip. Sylvio refused to detach from Lance, from the solid reminder that his papi was back and that Leo was okay and no one had died, and Keith swallowed down the daggers that the tiny boy’s tears dealt to his heart. He could practically see the heartbreak in Lance’s eyes.
Sylvio trembled in Lance’s hands as he gently eased the boy away, sliding a cup of hot tea between his fingers instead, and running his fingers through his son’s hair.
“See?” He murmured. “Everything’s warm and alive. Everyone is safe, buddy. I promise.”
“I-I’m sorry,” hiccuped Sylvio, hands flailing at the tear streaks on his cheeks as he sniffled. “You-you actually lived through a huge space war, and I’m acting like a big baby just because of a stray shot. No one even got hurt, I-I…I just—”
“Stop that! You’re not a ba—!” Cried Nadia, but Keith patted her back softly as Lance’s eyes flashed like a lion’s in the dark bedroom, his hands rising to brace Sylvio’s shoulders and forcing the smaller boy to look him in the eye.
“So if you were being bullied and beat up at school,” he said in that quiet, powerful voice that instantly stilled the room, “it wouldn’t matter if someone punched Nadia?”
“What?!” Shouted Sylvio, his eyes glowing with fury as he jerked forwards, sloshing a small wave of tea onto the covers. “Of course it matters! How could it possibly not matter?!”
“Then why should your trauma matter less just because you haven’t fought?” Asked Lance, his tone steady as he adjusted his leg to cover the spill, tapping Sylvio’s cup in a silent reminder to drink it. “Sylvio, an experience is an experience. Trauma is trauma. It’s not a matter of who’s gone through the most,” he stated, memories of Hunk’s panic attacks, Pidge’s screams, Allura’s tears, Shiro’s nightmares, Coran’s insomnia, and Keith’s fight-or-flight instincts springing before his eyes next to this little boy who was breaking down in front of him, “it’s a matter of who’s gone through too much. Sylvio, you and Nadia have been through way too much. We all have,” he admitted, catching Keith’s gaze for an agonizing tick, “but we rely on each other. If Tío Hunk panics, we’re there with lavender scent sticks, weighted blankets, and hugs for weeks. If Tía Pidge is in pain, we bandage her up noooo matter how hard she fights, and then we pull her into a movie night because her little caffeine brain needs something to think about.”
Nadia giggled, and Keith ruffled her hair with a smile that could shame the sun. Lance beamed, turning back to Sylvio and nearly sobbing when the smaller boy looked up at him with relatively dry eyes. “If Tía Allura is grieving, then we take her through a beauty night and cuddle pile on top of her until we’re out of stories for the night. If Abuelo Shiro…has a nightmare, we find the fluffiest things we can, make him comfort food, and make sure he knows we’re there if he wants to talk. If crazy Tío Coran has trouble sleeping, then we make him soothing tea, talk him to sleep, and leave a nightlight on until he feels safe enough to stay asleep. And if Tío Keith over here is startled awake,” he added, glancing at Keith to ask silent permission to tell his story and nearly sobbing at the tender smile he was met with, “then we make sure he knows it’s us, block him from the training room for a while, and force him to take a spa day. See? You guys, we’re all in pain, but we have each other’s backs.”
Keith nodded, pressing kisses to the top of their head and cuddling them to his chest as Lance levelled his gaze at them.
“Don’t hide your pain from us,” he said softly. “We know it better than anyone else. Rely on each other, and rely on us. We’re always going to be here for you two, no matter what. Your pain matters just as much as ours, and it’s not selfish to ask for space to process it. Just remember,” he finished, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and dropping kisses on their scrunched little noses, “you don’t have to process it alone.”
Sylvio sniffled, Nadia pretended tears weren’t dripping from her chin, and Lance enveloped his family in a tight hug. Keith kept his hands firm on the twins’ backs, soft reassurances he had memorized spilling from his lips, and he locked eyes with Lance in a mutual understanding. They would be here all night if they needed to; whatever it took to soothe their children. Whatever it took to bring Nadia’s sunshine smile and Sylvio’s booming laugh back home, whatever it took to lay them down in a peaceful sleep.
They couldn’t turn back time, couldn’t find some way to save them back then, but they could save them now. And they would, no matter what. So Lance wrapped an arm around Sylvio’s back while he massaged Nadia’s shoulders, and Keith stole a book from the shelf to begin reading aloud, scrunched into a little blanket bundle of comfort, love, and family.
Lance slid the door closed with a soft click, his eyes swimming with tears, and he turned to Keith with shattered glass for eyes.
“How?” He croaked out, shivering, and Keith spread his arms open for his boyfriend to fall into. “How did I mess up this badly?”
Keith shook his head, pressing a kiss to Lance’s forehead as tears fell from his own eyes.
“It’s not your fault, Lance,” he protested, pressing firmly at the knots making up Lance’s shaking shoulders. “It’s not. You did your best, we all did. We protected them from everything worse than what they saw.”
“But they still saw too much,” sobbed Lance, shaking his head against Keith’s chest. “I failed them.”
“No, you didn’t,” insisted Keith, curling his arms tighter around his boyfriend. “You didn’t, Lance. What you said back there…”
The nightmares of his dad going up in smoke, of waiting by that door for hours only to never see the greatest man in the world ever again, the panic attacks from every fire alarm, the breakdowns that came with every father’s day for decapehoebs, all the pain that everyone insisted he had no right to—
Keith blew out a harsh breath, shaking himself from those thoughts and pushing Lance back to fix those cerulean eyes with his own violet ones.
“What you said back there,” he murmured, a soft smile tugging at his lips, “it was everything I needed as a kid. So…I know for sure that you didn’t fail them, Lance. You just saved them. Again.”
Just like you always save me.
Lance sniffed, wiping at his eyes, and sucked in a long, slow breath.
“Really?”
“Really,” promised Keith, catching Lance’s hand and dragging it to his lips for a soft kiss. “You did more than enough.”
Lance let out a teary laugh, intertwining his fingers with Keith’s and tugging him in for a soft peck.
“You always know just what to say,” he choked out, leaning on Keith’s shoulder as they reached the stairs, tears still burning his eyes and a sigh on his lips. “You know, we’re also just putting off the inevitable. When this is all over, we’re going to need to think about how to process…what we’ve seen. What we’ve been through.”
Keith grimaced, tugging at his ponytail as they turned to catch a glimpse of the brightly lit living room where the world’s most intense game of slapjack ever was underway. It would be so easy for them both to glide down the stairs, to brush off Lance’s words, to say they would handle it later. But after what they had just seen Sylvio and Nadia going through…
It felt irresponsible. They were the Black Paladins of Voltron; they had to look out for their team, their family. If anyone was going to handle this, it had to be them.
“You’re right,” agreed Keith, rubbing a thumb over his forefinger. “But I don’t think a therapist is going to help. They won’t really know how to handle us; it’s been so many decaphoebs since this country was at any sort of war.”
“I know,” Lance replied, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “But when you put it like that, I mean, what if we did our own version of group therapy? You’re right, I doubt any therapist could handle us, so I was thinking, who better to understand our experiences than each other? I know that a lot of therapies require, uh, actual therapists, but trauma therapy is all about processing, right? And…well, I’d like to think we’re all most comfortable with each other,” he said, throwing a crooked grin at Keith. “I think if we just talk it out and process together, it’s going to be a lot easier than anything else.”
Keith nodded, throwing an arm around Lance’s shoulders as they started down the stairs together. It had been so daunting, a topic none of them wanted to even think about, but when they just sat down and talked about it…all it took was five minutes. Maybe they were a better team than even they gave themselves credit for.
“Hey, is everything okay?” Asked Shiro as the two descended, Lance still rubbing at his arms and both of their eyes flushed. “You were up there for a while.”
Adam was on his feet in a tick, and Hunk was barely a step behind him, but Keith gave a small shake of his head.
“Yeah, the twins just had a…particularly nasty nightmare,” replied Lance, letting the unsaid meaning hang in the air like a broken heart. “I think we’ll all have to step up to help them deal with this a little more.”
Hunk winced, and Adam sank back down with a faint thump. Shiro rose, drawing Lance into his arms gently and rubbing his back as tears pooled in the young father’s eyes.
“You did great, Lance,” he murmured, locking eyes with Keith over Lance’s shoulder and mouthing what does he need right now? at him.
While the others were great at guessing, Keith was going to have the best bet since he had been with him the whole time. Keith gestured to the card game quietly, and Shiro smiled.
“Hey, you want to join in our game? Hunk is kind of destroying all of us and I think he’d like an actual competitor,” suggested Shiro, winking at both Lance and Keith simultaneously as he jerked a thumb towards the cards scattered over the table.
“Uh, no, actually that’s fine, I rather like winning for once!” Protested Hunk, and Lance let out a bubbling laugh. “Lance has been beating me at this since we were six!”
“Eh, you got that one win streak when we were eight,” replied Lance with a flick of the wrist, and Keith’s shoulders eased.
He was going to be okay. They had his back, his hand, and his heart held tightly. They weren’t going to let him fall. Never again. And, this time, Lance grabbed their hands and let them yank him into the light-filled room with a ringing laugh, any fears dissolving under the glowing smiles of his family, and his stomach easing as they sat down together at the card table, Lance’s hand threaded through his, and shoulders brushing.
But they had barely set down the first card when a familiar whoosh echoed around the house, pawing at the windows and letting out a quiet, familiar roar that nearly burst their hearts.
Lance’s jaw dropped, Keith’s eyes grew wide, and Hunk’s filled with tears. Shiro pressed a hand to his mouth, Krolia raised her head, and Adam stood with an awestruck, mindless murmur.
“Are you serious?” Whispered Keith, his throat going dry with disbelief even as Lance let out a triumphant whoop that shot him to his feet.
“HECK YEAH!” Cheered Lance, dashing for the door and practically body-slamming it open. “THEY’RE HOME!”
“They’re home?!” Shrieked Hunk, diving from behind the table and rolling through the doorway in a little ball of loving destruction.
Keith tore out of the house onto the dusty plain, Shiro’s thumping footsteps careless behind him, and Adam’s pointless screeching as he sprinted out to join them just as the two lions and Castleship descended.
The Green Lion was practically thrumming with pride, her jaws open to reveal a battered and distinctly burned Pidge, waving with a massive grin bedecking her face and tears filling her eyes. Matt clung to Green’s tooth, an occasional terrified wave to his family below, and Rover II chirped an excited greeting down at them. Hunk jumped up and down, throwing his arms in arcing waves, Adam shot a finger gun at Matt with a teasing grin, and Keith beamed at the tiny figure practically vibrating with joy.
“I knew you could do it.”
The Red Lion was no less excited, her jaw wide open to show off Allura’s dirt-streaked armor, hand intertwined with Acxa, and Altean markings glowing as she bent over the edge to wave at her family as a few tears drifted down to them on the breeze. Acxa stood tall beside her, a faint smile on her lips as she also waved, a circlet gleaming on her forehead and a smile that outshone the sun on her lips. Shiro beamed like the sun had finally come up, Krolia pressed a hand to her mouth, tears in her eyes, as Acxa’s blade glowed faintly in Red’s light, and Lance jumped up and down as he let out shrieks of joy.
“WELCOME HOME!” He screamed at the top of his lungs as the two Lions landed alongside the Castle of Lions, and he raised tear-stained cheeks to smile at his homebound siblings. “Welcome home.”
Allura tripped out of the Red Lion in her rush, and Pidge threw an arm over Matt as she hopped towards her family. Lance and Keith broke free, charging towards their limping little sister, and Allura bolted for Pidge with a cry on her lips.
“Pidge, are you alright?!”
“Yeah, just a little…haggard,” joked Pidge, and Matt rolled his eyes.
“I gave her emergency treatment, but she’s going to need a healing pod. Her legs are the worst, though.”
“Matt!”
Allura swept Pidge’s other arm over her shoulder, leaving her feet dangling off of the ground, and Pidge looked at her like she was going to bite Allura’s fingers off. The princess just smiled, and Keith and Lance crashed into the three of them with the others hot on their feet in one huge group hug of cracking bones, kicking, tears, and a symphony of laughter to be heard for days.
“Welcome home,” breathed Lance as Coran finally reached them and joined in, Shay barely a step behind him, and Lance finally felt his heart start to beat again.
Because finally, finally, finally, he had his family back in his arms again; complete, safe, and still his. They were finally all together again. And each of them, tears streaming into laughter, could only hold each other tight as one thought filled the desert night.
I’m so glad you’re all here with me.
“Wait, SHAY?!”
“I heard that you would all appreciate reinforcements, so I gained permission to come and help with preparations! Will that be okay?”
“Aaaaaand, man down,” joked Lance as Hunk’s brain-short-circuited, his mouth hanging open and cheeks blazing. “Welcome to the Voltron family, Shay! Now, shall we get our number one gremlin into a healing pod?”
“OOOOOOOH NO, you are not all picking me u—QUIZNAKERS, PUT! ME! DOWN! AAAAAAAAARRRGH, I HATE YOU ALL!”
“Love you too, Pidgey~”
And, as they all snuggled closer, the silent reply rippled across the universe to be heard in the pulse of the cosmos for millenia.
I love all of you too.