Keith had been tense all week. But it wasn't because of anything that had to do with the blades, no things had been fine with them. And it wasn't his mother and Kolivan asking him for some assistance in quieting minor disputes between the galra either. No this was because he's been sensing something. Something he hasn't sensed in years. The Blue Lion.

At first he thought he must be imagining things. The lions hadn't contacted them in a year. And even if they did, why would the Blue Lion contact him? Why not Black? The only reason he could think of was the fact that he had been able to sense Blue's presence all those years ago after he dropped out of the Garrison and was living alone in his shack before Shiro escaped Galra prison. So perhaps that's why he was sensing it again now?

As he laid in his cot on the Blade of Marmora base he couldn't help but close his eyes and focus on that energy, and sure enough he felt the pull, Blue was reaching out to him and pulling him towards a certain direction. Keith grabbed the bedsheets in his fist and gripped them tightly. His eyes opened and a look of determination was set on his face. There was only one reason he could think of why Blue would be reaching out to him.

He sat up in his bed, threw back the covers, and began putting on his blade suit. He only paused when he heard his wolf growl behind him. He turned to face the now massive animal that was loyal only to him and noticed the confused and concerned head tilt he gave and sighed.

"I know what you're thinking." Keith tells his wolf. "But this isn't like the last few times, I think she might really be out there."

Kosmo whined and nuzzled his head into his owner's chest.

"I know it might be impossible but...I can't think like that. I have to believe there's a chance. That's the only thing that's been keeping me going (and me, the author too tbh)." Keith says. "This time I think it's really her, and I'm gonna bring her back. I have to. She's sacrificed too much for the good of the universe. She doesn't deserve this fate."

With that he slid his knife into it's sheath behind his back and walked towards the hangar with Kosmo at his side.

Keith expertly flew his ship through an asteroid belt, his gifted skills as a pilot making the difficult voyage a breeze. Keith closed his eyes again and directed the ship towards the pull he was sensing from Blue.

Kosmo whined as he turned around in the passenger seat, sensing the shift in energy as well. Suddenly he put his front paws up on the dashboard and began barking and whining at something up ahead.

"What is it boy?" Keith asks.

He opens up his eyes and gasps when he sees the bright blue nebula in front of him. It was shaped like a woman, and he knew exactly which woman it was.

"Allura..." He breathes and his mouth cracks into a small smile.

He gasps again when he hears the roars of the lions. He watches as all five of them fly past his little ship and make their way towards the nebula that was shaped like the princess.

"What are they doing?" Keith asks and Kosmo whines and tilts his head.

The lions all stopped at the nebula. The Black Lion roared and all of the other lions roared in unison and they began to glow.

Keith's heart soared with joy when he realized what this could mean.

"She's coming back...She has to be Kosmo!" Keith exclaims and grips the controls. "Please. Please, bring her back." He pleads to the lions. "I'll do anything, I'll trade my life for hers if I have to just please...let her come back to me. I need her to be alive. I need her in my arms. I need to tell her that I..." He bites his lip at the last part as tears fall down his cheeks.

Suddenly all five lions ran into the nebula. There was a flash of light and the lights inside of Keith's ship flashed and he gasped as he felt a surge of quintessence energy run through him.

At that same time, in a distant part of space on New Altea, Lance woke up from his slumber when he felt the markings on his cheeks burning. He winced and rubbed them but couldn't make out what was going on.

Keith opened his eyes, his face filled with hope as he scanned space for Allura's body. But it was nowhere to be found. His heart sunk and shattered into a million pieces. Kosmo's ears drooped as he gave his owner a sad look and Keith shook his head as the tears streamed down his face and tried as hard as he could to concentrate on Blue's signature. But it was gone. He couldn't sense Blue or Allura anymore.

"No. No. They can't all be gone!" He exclaims. "They were supposed to bring her back! Why else would they go into her nebula like that! Why destroy the last remnants of her and themselves if it was all for nothing!? That makes no sense! I was so sure there was a way to bring her back." He sniffed and rubbed his watery eyes. "But I guess I was wrong. This world is too cruel for that. She's always done everything she could to help people. To help me and the other paladins. And now I couldn't even find a way to bring her back, make her happy...I'll never see her again. I don't deserve to ever see her again."

He bends over the controls and weeps. Kosmo nuzzled into his side as Keith mourned Allura's loss.

Four years later...

Colleen Holt was trying out a new recipe for a Christmas ham when she heard her daughter call her.

"MOM!" Pidge screeched from upstairs.

Colleen smiled and giggled to herself as she went upstairs to her daughter's bedroom and found her standing by her open suitcase on her bed with her fists clenched and a frown etched on her face.

"What's the matter dear?" Colleen innocently asks.

"Two things actually." Pidge says and reaches inside of her suitcase. "One is that I am certainly old enough to pack my own suitcase and two," Pidge pulled out the plastic bag filled with tiny foil squares. "I definitely will not be needing these!"

Colleen laughed and shook her head.

"Are you sure about that peanut?" She asks. "I figured that after five years of these frequent visits to Lance's farm that something might be happening between the two of you."

"Mom!" Pidge whined and dropped the bag on the floor. "You know why I've been going there." She says sadly.

Colleen sighed and her gaze shifted to the floor.

"So he still isn't over her yet is he?" She asks.

"No." Pidge says softly and zips up her suitcase. "And I don't expect him to be anytime soon. He really shouldn't be living on New Altea. Everywhere he looks he's reminded of Allura. He can't move on, it's not healthy for him."

"Then I'm glad you've been going to visit him so often." Colleen says. "You are probably a welcome distraction from the sorrow that his surroundings bring."

"I like to think so." Pidge says and closes up her suitcase and picking it up off of her bed. "I'll see you in a week mom."

"I'll see you in a week Katie." Colleen says and hugs Pidge before letting her go.

Pidge looked out the window and smiled when she saw Lance standing outside waiting for her on the tarmac. She landed her ship and ran right over to him.

"Hey there pigeon!" Lance says and holds his arms out for Pidge.

She runs into his arms and he catches her and stumbles back a bit before regaining his balance while holding her tight.

"I missed you so much!" Pidge says and tightens her grip around his shoulders.

"I did too Pidge." Lance says and rests the side of his head against hers a bit more.

"Ah welcome back to New Altea Miss Holt." An elderly Altean says and walks forward on a cane towards Pidge and Lance.

Pidge looked confused.

"Uh Lance who is..." She asked.

"Oh this is Rayna." Lance introduces. "She's one of the elders that lived on the colony. She helps take care of the kids here and she's been teaching me about Altean culture."

"He's like the grandson I never had." Rayna says and gives Lance an affectionate smile that he returns.

"Awww." Pidge says and smiles at them both.

"He's told me so much about you pigeon." Rayna says.

"Oh uh, it's Pidge actually." Pidge corrects while Lance snickers.

"Oh my apologies." Rayna says and pulls out a quilt from behind her back. "I wanted to give this to you and Lance for the farmhouse."

"Oh it's beautiful." Pidge says and takes it from the Altean.

"It's been in my family for generations." Rayna explains as Pidge and Lance marvel over the craftsmanship. "They say it has special powers. We call it the baby maker."

Pidge and Lance's cheeks heated up and Pidge quickly passed the quilt into Lance's hands. Rayna laughed while Pidge and Lance laughed nervously while looking between each other, trying to gage how uncomfortable each other was with the situation.

"Well uh...Pidge and I don't have that kind of relationship but thank you for the lovely gift..." Lance says and gingerly holds the quilt in his hands.

"Oh I know." Rayna says and hobbles away on her cane. "I just thought you might save it for later." She says and looks back at them and winks.

They both gave Rayna huge fake smiles and waved at her as she walked away. Once she was out of sight Lance chucked the quilt at Chip who was climbing out of the ship.

"Ah! Pidge! My visuals have been obstructed! I cannot process any visual stimuli-" He stops rambling when Pidge lifts the quilt from his head. "Oh thank goodness!" He sighs in relief.

"Hey there Chip how's it hangin'!" Lance says and holds out his fist towards the robot.

"Lance! It's wonderful to see you!" Chip says and skips over to him.

He looked at Lance's fist and then punches him in the gut.

Pidge gasped and ran over to Lance who was doubled over in pain.

"Nice hit." Lance coughs.

"Thank you! I have been working on hand to hand combat as a paladin of the Voltron Force. Pidge thinks my skills have improved. I'm so glad you decided to allow me to test my skills by making that hand gesture signaling to me that you wanted me to punch you." Chip explains and smiles at Lance.

"Yeah...that's what I was doing." Lance lies and smiles at the robot.

Chip went over and picked up Pidge's suitcase.

"Well what are we waiting for!" Chip says. "Let's go see Kaltenecker and the rest of the McClain clan!"

Pidge and Lance chuckle as they watch Chip skip off towards the farm. Lance looked down and noticed Pidge holding his forearm. He smiled and didn't tell her to move it, he had grown used to Pidge's touch, in fact, he welcomed it and even found himself craving it sometimes. He was so overjoyed to have her with him during this time of year.

"Well, I guess it's time to go start Christmas with the McClain's." Pidge says.

"This is gonna be a fun week." Lance says and leads Pidge to the farmhouse.

This visit was no different from any of the others. As soon as Pidge came to the juniberry fields she was greeted by Kaltenecker and Lance's nieces and nephews who were getting bigger every day. Lance's siblings all gave her tight hugs and praised her arrival while Lance looked on and smiled, happy that his family had embraced her.

After Christmas dinner Pidge sat on the floor of the living room while the other members of the family were on the couch, both Lance's niece and nephew were curled into Pidge's sides and tugging on her shirt and pointing at the screen every time Santa showed up, or the elves did something cool with magic and the kids would explain to her how Santa's magic worked.

Veronica noticed that Lance's attention was not on the claymation movie playing on the TV, but was instead directed towards Pidge interacting with the kids.

"Happy your girlfriend's here for Christmas?" Veronica asks.

Lance's face heated up and his head whipped around to find his older sister smirking at him.

"W-What?" He asks in a high-pitched voice. "First Rayna and now you. Come on Veronica, you know I don't think about Pidge like that."

"Oh I think you do." Veronica insists.

"I don't." Lance says, seriously this time. "Besides, I know you're only teasing me because you're jealous that your girlfriend isn't here with us this year."

Veronica scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"Acxa is busy on a mission this year that she couldn't get out of." Veronica says simply and crosses her arms. "Maybe I should have asked Keith to come spend the Hollidays with us?"

Lance scoffed and smirked at his sister.

"Nice try, but it's pretty clear that Keith isn't exactly the romantic type. Girls may be hitting on him left and right but I've never once seen him go any further than a quick dance and a friendly drink with them." Lance says. "I feel bad for Shiro and Curtis. He's been third-wheeling them for five years now. In fact, he's even spending Christmas with them this year. They've been trying to set him up with some of their friends for ages now but...He keeps turning them down."

"Do you know why?" Veronica asks.

"Beats me." Lance says.

Keith looked out over the desert from the window of Shiro and Curtis's small apartment on Christmas Eve, a glass of whiskey in his hand and a look of longing on his face as he shifted his gaze to the stars. He sighed and looked back down at his glass, wondering if he should just down the rest of it when he felt a small tug on his ponytail.

"Ow." He says and turns around to face the culprit.

Shrio and Curtis's son Adam laughed and Keith couldn't help but smile at the small child that resembled his best friend and his husband. He remembered the day that Shiro and Curtis first introduced Adam.

He and the other paladins were all arguing about something during the Allura Day feast three years ago and then out of nowhere The Circle of Life started playing and everyone turned around to see Curtis holding up a baby Altean.

"You guys are parents now! What the quiznack-" Pidge had exclaimed.

"LANGUAGE!" Shiro and Curtis had scolded her.

They explained how Lance set them up with an orphan Altean infant and how grateful to him they were for his help. They also warned everyone not to be too surprised if Adam started to look like them as he grew up, because due to their shape-shifting abilities, Alteans will naturally take on the appearance of those that raise them. Which explained why Keith was face to face with a three year old Altean who had Shiro's grey hair and floof and Curtis's dark skin and blue eyes.

"What are you looking at Uncle Keith?" Adam asked him. "Are you looking for Santa?"

"Yeah." Keith says and puts his hands on his hips. "In fact I think I just saw him fly by a second ago..."

Adam gasped and his eyes went wide. Keith smirked as the toddler climbed up onto the back of the couch and pressed his face against the window.

"Where! Where! I can't see him!" Adam exclaims and Keith smiles and sips his drink.

"Just keep looking I'm sure you'll find him." Keith says.

He hears some giggles and turns to find a group of girls in very pretty dresses watching him interact with Adam and then looking him up and down and whispering amongst themselves while smiling at him. He let out a short laugh and turned away and looked back to the window. What is it about men interacting with kids that's so attractive to women?

"You should go talk to them." Shiro says to Keith.

Keith turned to his friend who had come to pick up his son and bring him to bed.

"Nah." Keith says and swirls the liquid in his glass. "I'm not in the mood."

"Maybe I just need to give you another drink then to change your mind?" Shiro suggests.

Keith laughs and shakes his head no.

"Shiro. You know that there's no amount of alcohol in the world that'll make me do that." Keith says.

"Yeah, that experiment was a huge fail." Shiro sighed. "And taking care of you the day after was worse than our first few nights with this guy." Shiro says and bounces Adam in his arms.

Keith smiled at Shiro, happy that he had a family.

"But seriously, you should at least have some sort of companionship other than Kosmo." Shiro says. "I know you're not happy being alone, that's why you keep hanging out with me and Curtis. And you'll always be like family to us but you should try to find some sort of family of your own you know."

"Yeah." Keith says and swirls his glass. "You're right. As always."

Shiro smiled at him and then Adam waved goodbye over his shoulder as Shiro carried him off to bed. Keith waved back and then noticed a girl checking him out from across the room. She had dark brown hair and tan skin, but her bright blue eyes instantly reminded him of Allura. Perhaps this was a sign, he thought as he walked over to her.

"Hey Honey!" Curtis calls from the living room.

"What is it?" Shiro asks, coming into the room.

"Look what's on TV!" Curtis says and slings his arms around his husband's waist.

"Oh dear God..." Shiro says and places his hand on his forehead when he sees what's on.

"Hey it's that show they made about you guys!" One of their friends says and laughs. "Get Keith in here! He's gonna want to see this!"

Keith reluctantly walked into the room, Shiro surprised to see a girl following him and he instantly regretted it when he saw his cartoon-self on the screen and everyone cheered.

"I think this is a new one." Curtis says. "They made some sort of movie out of your last mission to defeat Haggar. Called it Fleet of Doom or something."

"Yeah but it's very different from what actually happened." Shiro says.

His chest tightens when he sees the princess's character wake up after being revived.

"I wish this is how it went." He says and Curtis kisses his temple in an attempt to comfort him.

Shiro turned to see how Keith was holding up. He was holding back tears, and his knuckles were white as he gripped the glass. The princess and Keith held hands and professed their love for each other and everyone wolf whistled and turned to Keith.

"Whoa I didn't know you and the princess had a thing." The girl next to Keith says.

"We didn't." Keith says sharply. "She loved Lance. But that doesn't even matter. She's dead now and she's not coming back like in this movie."

He turned and left and Shiro excused himself to follow Keith.

He wiped tears from his eyes as he made his way down the stairs of the apartment and Shiro chased him.

"Keith wait!" He says and Keith stops. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Keith says harshly.

"Well you don't sound it." Shiro says and Keith sighs. "Look I know you miss her a lot. I do too. But that's just a movie. Everyone knows that you and Allura were never-"

"Yeah but I wish we were." Keith says.

He turns to Shiro and the older man's eyes widened.

"That movie did get something right. I loved her Shiro." Keith admits.

"You...You-then why didn't you-" Shiro starts.

"Because she was with Lotor. And then Lance." Keith answers. "I thought she'd be happier with them. At least I expected her to be happy with Lance. He was over the moon! He'd never accept my leadership if he knew how I felt about Allura. I couldn't stir up drama in the team that would prevent us from forming Voltron. So I put my feelings aside for the sake of the mission. But now she's dead..."

"Keith-"

"That movie got it all wrong. Not because it showed I love Allura but because it showed that my love for her is strong enough to bring her back to life!" Keith exclaimed. "If that were true, she'd be here now! Living happily ever after as Queen of New Altea, married to Lance and having a bunch of little princes and princesses-"

"Who's to say she wouldn't have gotten together with you if she knew how you felt?" Shiro asks.

"What?" Keith asks in shock. "You think she'd dump Lance for me?"

"I can't guarantee it." Shrio says. "But she did care for you. More than you know. I think knowing how you felt might have at least pushed her to reconsider-"

"Well we'll never know now will we." Keith says. "I had a chance and I blew it. If there's one thing I'd want for Christmas it would be for her to be alive again. And if she were to love me back that would just be icing on the cake but...no matter how many movies and comics they make about us that have me and her end up together, we'll never be together in this universe."

"Maybe you could be." Shiro says, trying to give his friend some sort of hope for the Holliday. "Maybe this is the universe giving you a sign. No matter what, love always finds a way. Slav told me that if two people end up together in every reality, then it's nearly impossible for there to be a reality where they're not together."

"Well then I guess we've achieved the impossible." Keith says. "Thanks for trying to help me but she's gone Shiro. There's no way to bring her back now. Merry Christmas." He says and Shiro sighs as Keith pats him on the shoulder before heading down to his bike to go home.

Shiro looked out the window of the stairwell and frowned when he saw a star shining brightly over the desert.

"Has that star always been so bright?" He asks himself before turning to go back to the party.

"Whoa...look at all the pretty stars." Lance's niece said as she looked out at the constellations over New Altea from the telescope.

"I want a turn!" The nephew exclaimed and jumped up and down.

"You already had one!" Pidge laughed and placed the cap over the lens. "Now I think your mom is here to bring you both to bed."

"Awwww..." They whine.

"Hey if you guys don't go to sleep then that means Santa can't bring you any presents." Their mom reminds them.

They both gasp and run to their bedrooms. Pidge thanked her and wished her goodnight before she walked down the hall to her bedroom. She was about to close the blinds when she noticed Lance outside in the juniberry fields. She sighed and turned away from the window.

Lance was staring longingly at a flower, wishing that the woman who loved them still existed.

"Hey stranger." Pidge says and breaks him from his trance.

She came to sit down next to him.

"You know Santa's not gonna bring you any presents if you're out here pouting and crying." She jokes and pokes his cheek.

"I know." Lance says and looks at the flower. "But I don't care. There's only one thing I'd want for Christmas..."

"Me too." Pidge says and looks at the flower.

"I just can't believe she's gone." Lance says. "I know she was a life giver but...I never expected her to give her own for us."

"She loved you Lance." Pidge says. "That's why she gave her life for you and all of us."

Lance bit his lip as Pidge placed her hand over his and squeezed it.

"I know it must hurt and I wish there was something I could do to bring her back for you but I can't." Pidge says. "The stars just aren't aligned for that I guess." She says and looks up at the sky.

"I don't think they ever will be to revive Allura." Lance says and twirls the flower and sighs. "That's just crazy to think about."

"Well lots of crazy things have happened." Pidge says and smiles. "I'm sure that wherever she is she's happy though. She's got her family up there."

"But what about the family that misses her down here..." Lance mumbles and Pidge sighs and hugs him.

Keith sighed as he parked his bike by his shack and made his way over to his house. It was still partially under construction but he had a complete first floor with a kitchen, living space and bathroom that he was pretty satisfied with.

As he climbed up the stairs to the deck he looked up at the stars and did something he hadn't done in years as Shiro's words came back to him.

"Please..." He prayed. "A miracle happened once on this night a long time ago...I know I haven't done anything to deserve it but she has. So please, for her, just let her live. Let her be happy."

Kosmo whined and nuzzled his side. Keith looked down at him and smiled, rubbing his head and muttering a soft "Amen" up to the sky before going back inside, pushing aside tinsel and Christmas decorations from the Blade's surprise Christmas party that they threw him earlier this week and then pulled out his bed from his new pull out couch and fell asleep, Kosmo curled into his side.

The star that shone over the desert only grew brighter, then it lined up over the tip of the mountain that once housed the Blue Lion and a beam of light that had been traveling across space for five years shot straight down towards an opening in the mountaintop and all of the markings inside the cave lit up in a glorious Blue Light. That light reached down to the center circle where the Blue Lion once sat and the insignia glowed brightly.

"Ah!" Lance exclaimed as he felt his face burning up.

"What's wrong?" Pidge asks, concern on her face.

"I think it's the markings." Lance says. "It's like their energy is being awakened or something!"

"What energy?" Pidge asks and cups her hands on his face under the glowing marks. "Allura's energy?"

The cave glowed so bright that it would have blinded anyone inside. The only noise heard inside was a gasping breath and then a beam of light shot out from the cave and traveled across the desert. It passed through Keith's house and startled him awake. Past Shiro and Curtis, making Shiro sit up in bed while his husband remained asleep. It left Earth and passed over Hunk on the Balmera, who awoke with the Balmerans as the surge passed them.

And as Lance was wincing in pain with a concerned Pidge trying to figure out what was going on the surge passed through both of them and they both gasped as everything around them settled down once more.

"What was that?" Lance asked.

"Well whatever it was..." Pidge says shakily. "It took away your markings."

"What!?" Lance exclaims and touches his face. "Then that means that...whatever that thing was...it must have had something to do with Allura."

Allura grunted as she hit the cold hard ground of the cave. She lay there for a few minutes, letting the energy around her settle before sitting up. She was still in her paladin armor, but her hair had fallen out of it's bun, and her quintessence formed a glowing purple aura around her.

Her mind was filled with questions, but the force that was pulling her to move out of the cave was stronger. She pressed herself up against the wall and used it to help her stand as she shakily began to walk towards the exit of the cave.

"Purpose..." She muttered. "Peace..." She gasped when she stepped out of the cave and into the desert night.

"Happiness." She whispered as she fell on the ground. "Love...Mother, Father." She allowed her energy to guide her to turn in a certain direction. "Daughter..." She muttered as she held her stomach and stood up. She muttered something else, "Kei-" The rest lost on the wind as a gust threatened to blow her over. "Voltron." She gasped and stumbled before stopping and regaining her ground before continuing onwards.

The desert creatures didn't know what to make of the glowing alien girl wandering across the sand, mumbling random words. Eventually she reached a small shack and a house under construction and she smiled.

"Come back to us..." She muttered and stumbled across the sand and made her way up the steps.

She tripped on a loose board and fell forward into the door with a soft grunt and a wince. Footsteps and a bark were heard inside and then the door opened and she smiled at an awe-struck Keith.

"A-Allura?" He stammered and she smiled at him.

"Keith..." She breathed with a smile and then her eyes closed and her aura faded.

She groaned as she suddenly collapsed and Keith caught her, just like Lance did all those years ago when she first woke up after 10,000 years. And now it was Keith's turn. He fell to his knees on the ground and cradled her in his arms.

"Allura?" He asked again.

He teared up and let out a soft sob, cupping her cheek and trying to think of how this was possible.

"If I'm dreaming...never wake me up." He tells Kosmo.

The wolf nods in affirmation.

"But if I'm not...Then this truly is a Christmas miracle." He says and lets out a short laugh and kisses her forehead as she laid unconscious in his arms. "You came back to me..."