Aaaaaa, I'm so sad that this is over! I can't believe it! This was such a fun story to write, I really needed something light to get me through everything going on in the series. I'm going to finish "I'm Proud of You, I Love You" and then decide if I want to do more fluffy stories after that. Please enjoy this chapter!

"Hey Lance? I won't be available to cuddle tonight."

Lance nodded, helmet in hand. They had just finished a liberation mission, and they were exhausted. Nobody had been hurt too badly, just a little banged up, but the battle had been hard. The citizens gratitude was sweet, though. They'd thrown the paladins a small party, fed them good (if not questionable) food, and sung their praises. By the time it was all over, Lance had been dead on his feet, ready to throw himself into the cuddle pile. Looked like he was going to be one member down.

"That's fine." he said to Pidge, before addressing the rest of the paladins. "Anyone else going solo tonight?"

There was a pause, and then Keith, Shiro, and Hunk all raised their hands. Lance raised an eyebrow. It was rare that everyone wanted to sleep in their own beds, but Lance supposed it was bound to happen again eventually. He nodded again. "Okay, that's fine."

"You're not mad, are you?" Keith asked, eyebrows drawn.

"Of course not! We've all split up before. It's perfectly fine if everyone wants to go to their own rooms." Lance stretched, sighing contently. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted. I'm going to shower and head to bed. Good night." He hugged everyone before he made his way out of the hangar and toward his bedroom.

He really wasn't mad. The cuddling was just a help for nights when they couldn't sleep. If everyone felt well enough to go back to their own beds, he was happy for them. His sleep had improved as well, and while he preferred their cuddle pile, he wasn't going to hold anyone hostage. Lance hummed softly to himself as he gathered his things before getting into the shower, the hot water soothing his sore muscles. He quickly washed himself up, rinsing off before stepping out of the shower and toweling off. Throwing on his pajamas, he went back in his room.

Just as he was getting ready to crawl under the covers, there was a knock as his door. He opened it.

There was no one there, but a note on the ground. Lance picked it up. In Hunk's somewhat neat scrawl, it read: Quick! Find the sleeping Yellow Lion.

Brow furrowed, Lance looked up and down the hallway. Seeing no one, he ducked back into his room to put on his slippers before heading out. The sleeping Yellow Lion? Did that mean Hunk's room? Why did he leave a note instead of talking to him? Shrugging to himself, Lance headed off to his friend's room, hoping he'd find some answers there.

Hunk's room door was open, and when Lance peeked inside, he was confused to find it empty. Maybe the other's hadn't gone to bed yet? But what were they up to then? His eyes widened when he saw the small, yellow lion plush toy sitting on Hunk's bed. Is that what he was supposed to find? He picked it up, seeing there was a note pinned to the back. He removed it. This one was in Pidge's messier handwriting. Good! Now find the Green Lion.

Sighing, Lance smiled to himself as he headed to Pidge's room, closing Hunk's door behind him. Just like Hunk's, Pidge's door was open. A green lion plush sat on her pillows. Lance tiptoed around the mess, gabbing the plush and reading the attached note, in Keith's disaster scrawl: Don't miss the Red Lion, Sharpshooter.

At that point, Lance couldn't control his grin, barely remembering to close the door before rushing to Keith's room. The red lion plushy waited for him there, the note on the back in Shiro's handwriting: Almost there. Find the Black Lion.

Lance hesitated outside of Shiro's room. He'd only been in there a couple of times, and it still made him nervous. Going in there without him felt wrong, even with the door sitting wide open. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside, picking up the black lion plush. There was no note, but Lance didn't think he needed one. His friends weren't in their rooms; there was only one other place they could be. He made his way to what he had dubbed their cuddling room.

The door was closed, and for a moment, Lance thought he made a mistake. But what was this scavenger hunt for? What were they up to? Hugging the push toys tight, he opened the door.

And gasped.

Where the bed should have been, there was instead a replica of the blanket fort he'd made for Shiro, but somehow bigger. He stepped into the room, the door closing behind him. "Guys?" He called out meekly, walking toward the tent, and there was a rustling sound before a section of the door lifted. Lance stepped in.

The other paladins sat on piles of soft blankets and pillows, smiling up at him. A blue lion plush sat in the middle of them. "Surprise!" Pidge cried, laughing, and Lance's brows scrunched up in confusion.

"What-?"

"We were talking the other day," Keith said, "and we realized that we never said thank you for helping us all."

"If you hadn't come to all of us, we'd still be sleepy terribly by ourselves." Hunk said. He reached out, pulling Lance down on the blankets and putting the blue lion in his lap.

"Or not sleeping at all." Shiro said. "What you did for us was amazing, and we just wanted to say thank you. I told the others what you did for me, and they remembered you saying how much you liked blanket forts. So we remade it."

"And," Pidge said, pulling out a small pen-sized object, "we made you this." She clicked it and pointed it up in the air. A small constellation in the shape of the blue lion spun in the air, and Lance's jaw dropped. Pidge pressed the pen in his hand.

Lance didn't know what to say. It was so simple… but so sweet. He knew the cuddling was important to them, but he didn't realize just how much until that moment. Clicking the pen off, he shuffled around, hugging each of the paladins before sitting back down, tossing each lion to its respective paladin and hugging the blue one to his chest.

"Did you like your surprise?" Pidge asked.

"I love it. Really. Thank you so much, guys." His eyes widened when he yawned, and he laughed. "Sorry. Still exhausted."

Shiro nodded. "I think we all are. Let's get some sleep."

Lance put the pen under his pillow, and they settled down into their usual cuddle positions: Pidge on one side of Lance, squished in by Hunk the way she liked; Keith on his other side, boxed in by Shiro. They would probably spread out, or twist up the blankets, or smother someone in the night - and Lance would enjoy it all, because they were his family, and he loved them. "I love you guys." he murmured out loud.

"We love you, too." Shiro responded, the other paladins making sounds of agreement. Snuggling down into the warmth of the blankets and his friends, hugging his blue lion tight, Lance drifted off to sleep.

And it's done! I hope you liked the story. Don't forget to comment!