*see end for important notes*

THE EPILOGUE

The sun was just beginning to peek over the hills of Arus when Nanny arrived at her favorite resting spot. She spread a blanket over the grass and sat down, leaning back on her elbows to enjoy the view. Usually she came out later in the morning, but today was special so she was able to greet the sun properly.

"Ah, it's hard to believe fifteen years have passed already," she sighed. "So much has happened since then."

Her mind wandered back, remembering the last day of the war. Well, she reckoned it was two days later, after all the excitement died down. The team was exhausted and didn't quite know what to do with themselves.

Of course everyone was excited about the new baby and helped the young parents out in shifts. Keith rarely left Allura's side, but had taken to sleeping in another room due to constant nightmares that usually ended with him screaming himself awake. It was a few weeks before he calmed down and was able to join her at bedtime.

The castle-ship was landed on New Altea, and the rebuilding began in earnest. Refugees were taken in from other planets there, as they were on other planets, so there was a population boom that caused some growing pains. The worst of it came when some Galra were relocated there. Even though they had been civilians during the war there was still a lot of distrust amongst the Alteans.

Nanny and Keith had to work hard to overcome those prejudices as well, but they soon won the hearts of the people and were able to build an inclusive society.

Allura eventually decided not to stay on New Altea, however. With the blessing of the Arusians, The Castle of Lions returned to Arus and a new Universal Alliance was founded there. Cities popped up around the castle, but the Arusian village was fully protected under the new order.

The Princess of Altea eventually became the Queen of Arus after the Arusian king had become too frail to continue to rule. She also served as the President of the Alliance, and formed Galaxy Assemblies for local governance.

The lions were also dispersed, this time not to hide them but to offer protection to some of the planets hosting the assemblies. Yellow was sent to the Balmera, Green to Olkarion, Blue to a refugee planet named Lyra, and Red to New Altea. The Black and White lions of course remained with the castle.

It was a decision made after Lotor destroyed the planet Balto. Unbeknownst to the Voltron force he'd been found by Queen Merla, the new Galra ruler, and nursed back from the brink of death. Together they made several attempts to reclaim planets once ruled by the Empire. Luckily most Galra had tired of fighting, instead integrating into other societies, so Lotor's small armies were always readily defeated.

That had been a difficult decision for the team, having to be separated like that. Even though they gathered several times a year they'd all become used to being together daily. They'd become family.

"A family," Nanny smiled, "that's grown so much."

Indeed, it had increased several times over.

After returning to New Altea the team found the young girl rescued by Allura during the attack by Lotor and Haggar. She introduced herself as Serefina Draco1, an orphan who had been living on the streets since then. Coran and Anton decided to adopt her and she thrived under their care. Currently she was in the last year of pre-med, specializing in combat medicine. Her studies had taken her to many different places, including Earth.

That's where she met Raitsumaru "Rai" Sinclair2, the young man who was being knighted the new Red Paladin in the ceremony later in the day. He was a Garrison pilot who flew with Earth's Voltron and was being treated for an injury when they crossed paths. Rai fell hard for Serefina and followed her back to Arus, eventually becoming Nanny's backup pilot.

At the same ceremony they were to knight the new pilot of the yellow lion, a Balmeran named Seido, who was Shay's niece. Hunk and Shay never had children but spent a lot of time with her family, which is why he was willing to give up his place to someone else. Trust was always important for him, and someone he knew well from a young age had plenty of time to earn it.

The rest of the lions would have to wait as their pilots were just beginning training.

Pidge and Lance's eldest, Vince, would be training in the green lion. Matt had been the de facto pilot for a while so his sister could be with her husband when she wasn't on Arus as the castle's Chief of Technology. Vince was a genius who had inherited his mother's intellect. He'd spent most of his childhood training with the Olkari and had a knack for inventing things. He and Daniel were pretty much inseparable, which always tickled Nanny considering who their fathers were.

Lance and Pidge also had twins, Sam and Hiro, who were still in preschool. Sam looked like a mini Lance, and Hiro was a ginger just like her mother. Nanny adored them and offered to babysit every chance she got.

Shiro and Romelle's only child, Larmina, was to train as the new pilot of the blue lion. She was very much a strong mix of her two parents: graceful, intuitive, brave, and disciplined. Her face was a mixture of her father's eyes and mouth, but her mother's nose and ears. She was very much a beauty and had long been Daniel's crush. Larmina was the typical teenager but she was certainly the most promising of the three future paladins, likely to complete her training first.

"Oh, that's right, I didn't tell you the news, did I? Little Daniel starts his training in the black lion tomorrow!" she exclaimed proudly, clapping her hands together.

He'd grown up so quickly she wondered where the time had gone. With his dark hair and indigo eyes she felt like she actually had a chance to watch her own son grow up. Often Daniel would seek her out when she would visit, asking her to tell him stories or to show her something new he'd learned. He certainly had his father's knack for flying and was an excellent fighter; unfortunately he also got his father's impulsivity, which landed him in trouble more often than he'd like.

Still, the black lion chose him and he was going to fight for his spot.

Nanny checked the time and realized that she needed to head back soon. She'd promised Keith a hand with watching the kids while the final preparations were being made. The others would be arriving soon and needed to be greeted as well.

Matt was returning from Olkarion with his family. He'd lived for a time on Mars during the terra-forming and Alliance building phase, even piloting with the Vehicle Voltron Air Team for a while. Before that he'd used his skills to rebuild King Alfor's AI, restoring most of his memories and even adding some from Allura's mother. Allura spent a lot of time in there immediately after, talking to them and asking for advice. Her spirits were always high after spending an afternoon in the chamber.

Keith was so grateful that they actually named their second son Matthew Charles3 after him. (Matt had insisted they have the same middle name so that whenever they were together they'd be E=MC2.) The younger Matt was the elder's shadow whenever he would visit, learning as much science as he could manage.

Shiro and Romelle would be arriving from Mars. Romelle had ruled for roughly a decade on New Altea before abdicating in favor of her brother, Bandor. She was always restless after being imprisoned on her home planet of Pollux, and jumped at the idea of leaving as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

For his part Shiro had become the leader of the Earth coalition. Allura wanted someone she trusted to keep an eye on the other Voltron, and the UN needed someone with extensive knowledge of the universe. Mars was chosen as a neutral location and so they settled there. Romelle was the Altean emissary, highly respected as a diplomat and legislator.

Lance and Pidge were arriving from Lyra a bit later, bringing her parents with them. Commander Holt had needed care that couldn't be provided on Earth and so he and his wife, Colleen, had come to live in the castle. Now they divided their time between their children and were currently living with Katie's family.

Lance seemed to have little interest in giving up his spot on the team any time soon, but age was starting to catch up to him. He'd taken up fishing during his down time, especially when Pidge had a big project she was working on. Being the castle's lead technician from so far away meant she travelled a lot and he couldn't always join her, although he tried as often as possible.

Hunk and Shay would be the last to arrive. Hunk had recently started a chain of restaurants throughout several galaxies and was stopping to check in on a few of the newer ones on the way. Once he retired from Voltron they planned to return to Earth to live for a while. Shay had taken up art and was excited to have new landscapes to paint, so Hunk invested in an RV so they could travel the country with ease.

As for Keith and Allura, well, they got their happily ever after. Allura was well loved as the Queen of Arus, and Keith respected as her king. After Matthew they had two more children: Fala, a carbon copy of her mother and already well trained in martial arts as well as the successor for the white lion; and Akira, who was just a few weeks old and currently the recipient of everyone's attention. Because the Queen and King were still considered young by Altean and Galra standards the two were considering growing the family by one more. It seemed that being alone during their younger years influenced their desire for a large family.

It was decided early on to lock the white lion away in the castle. Since there were no survivors from the last battle no one had actually seen it. Of course there were rumors every now and then, something akin to Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster, but not many took it too seriously. Allura treated it like their "last resort", something that would only be used in the most dire of circumstances. Once Fala was older she would train to fly it using a simulator Pidge was developing.

Because of this Allura herself had retired from being a paladin, although she did occasionally take Red out for a bit when visiting New Altea. Keith had even encouraged her to learn to fly Black in case she ever had to cover for him, not that it ever happened.

Keith was lucky, having three completely different types of genes. It meant he rarely got sick and when he did usually recovered quickly. It also served him well as he could be an ambassador to humans, Alteans, and Galra. This required him to travel quite a bit, but he was sure to never stay away from his family too long.

Even after all this time Allura remained the center of his existence. And he remained hers. Their love story was told and retold across every galaxy: The beautiful Princess and her handsome Paladin, who found each other across space and time.

"Well, I think it's time for me to go, Daniel my love," Nanny spoke as she stood. She reached over to straighten the flowers before lightly touching the cold stone marking his grave. "Keith and the grandkids miss you. I'm sure they'll be thinking of you tonight. I know I will."

Thanks again to everyone who has stayed with me for this journey! A few acknowledgements regarding some friends before I go.

"Serefina Draco" belongs to dragonrider1234, who has been so kind to me and helped me with the idea of the Easter Egg hunt!

"Raitsumaru 'Rai' Sinclair" is an OC belonging to Strife Airay, the winner of the Easter Egg hunt. Congrats!

"Matthew 'Matt' Charles" (Allura and Keith's son) was named for Matt a.k.a. Vhosek. Thank you for your encouragement through this process!

The three of them so graciously allowed me to use their names for the purpose of the epilogue, and I use them with a grateful heart.