Warning: Feels inducing. Also character death.

Disclaimer: I don't own the television show Voltron in any of it's reincarnations.

Blue is dying.

Lance doesn't need to see her to know it's true. He can feel it. Panic. Desperation. Acceptance. Sacrifice. All of this hits him like a wave he wasn't expecting, toppling him over in an ocean of emotions that aren't fully his own. But the more he sits in it and the more he feels, the more he begins to realize that they are his and they are hers and that in this moment they are truly one being.

She did this to save him.

The electricity should have killed him instantly. He knows this, just as he knows Blue understood what it meant for her. That she doesn't regret it. That she would do it again if she had too.

But Lance can also feel her sorrow at the consequences that not even he feels he can justify.

Voltron will die with her.

This was the plan. Lance knows it. Blue knows it. And yet she did it anyway, falling into Zarkon's trap without hesitation. Protecter of the universe. That is who she is. That is what she knows. That is what she does.

In that moment, Lance was her universe. Consequences be damned.

So Blue is there, lying on the ground, unmoving. Fading. Lance can feel her essence slowly slipping away. He wants to do something, and based on the arguments surrounding him, so does everyone else. But there is nothing.

"Once a lion dies, Voltron cannot be formed."

Nothing.

"We're going to die out here, aren't we?"

Nothing.

"What about my brother, my dad? Are we just going to leave them?"

Nothing.

"We can't give up. What about Earth? Are we just going to leave them to the Galra?"

Nothing.

"Voltron's done. There's nothing we can do without Blue. Her quintessence is fading."

Wait.

It starts out small. A fleeting thought. Almost a feeling more than an idea. But the more he thinks, the more Lance knows what he needs to do. For Blue. For Allura. For Shiro. For Pidge. For Coran. For Hunk. For Keith. For his family. For Earth.

For everyone.

Protector of the universe. That was his job as a paladin, wasn't it? Well, he was the latest in a long line of Blue paladins who gave their lives to protect those they loved. Who was he to break tradition?

He slips off, knowing where to go without really knowing where he is or what he's doing, just that it needs to be done. Blue is guiding him, that much he knows. Part of him wonders if she is the one to bring the idea to him in the first place.

The control room. That's where she leads him. There's a single glowing panel in the corner of the room. The last part of her holding on. For him. For what he needs to do.

Lance is afraid.

He can still hear the other paladins arguing through the speaker in his helmet. Even in their shouting, he is comforted by their voices. He loves them. All of them. He knows that now. They are his team. His family.

He can't let them die.

"Where's Lance?"

Keith's voice cuts through his helmet, making him freeze. His hand hovers over the panel for a few moments. He needs to act fast, before they stop him, and he knows they'll try.

But he hesitates. Because he needs them. He needs them to understand. He needs them to know why. Why this is needed. Why he has no choice.

"Hey guys."

His voice is shaky, and a tear snakes its way down his cheek that he doesn't bother to wipe away.

"Lance," Allura's voice is stern. She knows what's happening. He feels it. Or perhaps Blue is telling him. They've become so mixed, he can no longer tell. "What are you doing?"

"Voltron's got to live, Allura."

"Lance." Her voice is quiet. "Don't."

"What? What's he doing?" Keith's voice is urgent, and Lance's heart breaks more than he anticipated.

He can hear the hesitation in Allura's voice. "His quintessence. He's giving it to the Blue Lion."

Keith's reaction is immediate. "You idiot! What do you think you're doing?"

"Saving you." He whispers. His hand hovers over the panel for just a moment before he gently presses it down. "I'm sorry."

"Lance!"

The reaction is immediate. The control room lights up around him. Blue's presence becomes stronger and stronger within him.

Lance is the one fading now.

Everything is happening in slow motion. He hear's talking. Shouting. Gasps of horror as the team realizes what he's done, but it's as if it's spoken through mud. Not much registers with him, just the heartbreak.

His can hear his heart beating, feel the breath leaving his lungs. He can feel his mind going. His essence leaving him. It's dark.

He never liked the dark.

"Lance."

A voice break's through the mud.

Allura.

It's as if she's there, even though she isn't. He figures it has something to do with Altean ancestry and the history of the lions, but he's too tired to dwell on it.

"You don't have to do this."

Yes, I do.

He doesn't have to say it. They both know it's true.

"Do you know what the Blue Lion stands for, Lance?" She's crying. Don't cry, Allura. It's okay.

"No." He whispers. But as soon as the word passes through his pale lips, he realizes he does. He can tell. Because he is the Blue Lion now.

"The Blue Lion is brave."

Images flash before his eyes. Old blue paladins rushing into battle, fighting, determined to either live or die for their cause. He sees them afraid, but moving forward anyway. He sees them never giving up, even against all odds.

"The Blue Lion is willing to sacrifice for the team."

He sees blue paladins dying. He sees them broken, cradled in the arms of those they left behind. He sees others living because of them.

"The Blue Lion is hope."

He sees their smiles. Their determination. Their laughter.

"The Blue Lion is love."

He sees himself.

He sees his family. Brothers. Sisters. Mom. Dad. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins.

Shiro. Hunk. Coran. Pidge. Allura. Keith.

Home.

The air is light around him. He can feel Blue's strength. He can feel his weakness.

It isn't long now.

"You're brave, Lance." It's Shiro's voice who reaches through the mud this time. His voice is shaky. Why is his voice shaky? "You are brave, and you are loved. Remember that."

Lance wants to nod, but he's distracted by a bright light that surrounds him. It's a welcome break from the darkness he's grown used to. A hand appears before him. It's foreign, yet so familiar. Ancient, yet new. He knows this hand. He knows what it will bring.

He takes it.

And suddenly.

Blue is alive.

Lance is not.