A/N: Hey guys. It's been a while, but after seeing the length of this chapter I think you'll see why. This by far is the longest chapter I've written for anything. All I will say is that the word counts from the previous 4 chapters combined adds to the amount of words in this chapter. It was originally going to be split into two, but I thought it would interrupt the flow of the story too much and here we are.

After multiple re-writes and deleted content, I present you with the final chapter of Hunted.

Thank you all for who read, favorited, reviewed, and followed. I love you guys.

"I think he's breathing weird." Pidge said, pressing her face against the glass of Keith's healing pod.

Keith remained unmoving in the pod. Just like Lance had once worn, Keith was wearing the white infirmary garbs and he looked asleep within the pod. Coran ended up taking off his armour when Keith was out of immediate danger of death.

"Didn't you say the exact same thing when Lance was in there last?" Hunk was right, Pidge had said it before. Hunk's eyebrows furrowed. "I think he just twitched."

Shiro kept a few feet away with his arms crossed, whilst Lance paced back and forth, not being able to stand still.

"That gives more reason for us not to worry." Shiro tried to add some optimism, but in reality he had to be the most worried aside from Lance.

"Shiro's right," Allura piped in. "Like I said before, Keith is recovering; his shoulder is now fully healed. It shouldn't be much longer now."

"I got pretty much blown up and it took one day for me to heal," Lance joined into the conversation, "Why is it taking so long?"

"Well, no human should have been able to survive what Keith endured," Coran answered. "He's definitely unique, I'll give him that."

Lance's face fell as Coran's first sentence rang through his head. Shiro and Allura gave Coran a single look and the message was clear that he had said too much. Neither of the three of them had told Lance or Pidge and Hunk about Keith's death. Even though it had been temporary they all agreed that it should be kept a secret.

Keith was alive and that's what mattered. The three of them weren't foolish; they knew that if they told any of them, Lance especially, that it would only lead to more pointless guilt.

"I would say that's enough gawking. We should head back to the villages." Allura suggested.

The paladins began clearing out one by one until Lance was the last one to linger in the room. Lance glanced back to Keith in his healing pod. Keith was always pale, but Lance could see the colour returning to his face.

Lance found himself thinking back to it all.

Three days. It had been three days since the paladins defeated and killed the Baluke. Three days since the paladins freed the people of Zilate. Three days since Keith was placed in the healing pod.

When the paladins finally had a quiet moment, they told Lance that they found out that it was the galra that had made the Baluke. Lance had to walk off his fury. He remembered what he yelled down the halls.

"Why is it that when something bad happens to us that it is always the Galra! When I manage to get my hands on at least one of them, I'm gonna-"

He never got to finish. He was quickly calmed down by Hunk moments after.

It also turned out that Lance had a concussion. He wasn't surprised, but he kept insisted that he didn't need to be treated. Eventually, Hunk and Pidge had got him to sit down long enough to clean the cut on his head. Lance honestly didn't care about his condition. His was nothing in comparisons to Keith's.

In those three days, Keith showed no signs of waking up. Allura had assured the other paladins that it was normal. It was since Keith's condition was so critical that it was only natural that it would take a while to heal. Keith's shoulder began to heal and mend itself within the first two days. It looked as if he had never gotten the injury in the first place. There was no scarring and no stitches were needed. The healing pods were definitely something else.

The castle of lions remained on Zilate within those days. The Zilatians suffered devastating losses. Team Voltron did what they could which was to only rebuild. It kept everyone busy, but despite this Lance would check on Keith as often as he could.

Not that Lance would admit to it, but when everyone else slept he would sit by Keith's healing pod and just talk. It wasn't much of a conversation, it was very one-sided, but in some odd way Lance hoped that maybe one of them would find comfort in it. Lance would talk about his life's story, throwing in the occasional joke that got no reply (not that it was any different from before).

In all honesty, Lance couldn't sleep at nights anyway. Every time he shut his eyes, all he saw was the Baluke and Keith dying in front of him. By just sitting by Keith's healing pod it reminded him that Keith was alive. He needed the reassurance. It didn't help that Lance felt guilt over everything. His own thoughts plagued him with 'it's all your fault' and 'it should have been you'. Lance just tried his best to shut it out and to deal with it himself.

Lance was suddenly drawn out of his train of thought by a firm hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be here when we get back." Shiro gave a comforting and gentle squeeze. Lance nodded and turned around, walking with Shiro on the way out.

"I've been meaning to ask, but how are you holding up?" Lance asked. It earned a small confused head tilt from Shiro. Lance explained, "Well, you've known Keith longer than any of us."

Shiro blinked at Lance. He was completely put off guard at the question, but eventually Shiro just sighed. He let down his façade, but only for a few moments.

"I'm just as worried as you are," Shiro looked hesitant for a moment before speaking. "I know you've talking to him every night,"

Lance felt something like embarrassment just flood through him. He thought he had kept the secret well.

"Don't worry, I haven't been eavesdropping. And besides, I'm sure that whatever you've been talking about is nothing to be ashamed of," Shiro reassured. "In all honesty, I haven't been able to sleep either. I don't think anyone really has been sleeping. I've seen Pidge tinkering and Hunk in the kitchen when we're meant to be resting."

Lance glanced at the ground below.

"It's weird, isn't it? Just a few days ago, Keith and I hardly spoke to each other and I'm only now talking to him when he can't hear me,"

Shiro shook his head.

"I think he can hear more than you think. He's always been more of the kind of person to listen rather than talk. I know he'd appreciate you being there."

Lance felt a smile trying to break its way to the surface. He thought for a moment and he realised something he had never questioned before.

"You know, I don't think I've ever asked, but how are you and Keith so close?" Lance asked. "I mean, I know you used to personally mentor Keith back at the Garrison, but there wasn't much of a story behind it,"

Shiro started to smile, obviously recalling a fond memory.

"I think I'll let Keith tell you that story," Shiro laughed. "But I guess all you need to know is that he's someone I care about and trust." Shiro smiled.

To say the beginning of Shiro's and Keith's friendship was rocky would have been an understatement. When Shiro first met him, Keith was a completely different person. If it also weren't for Shiro, Keith would have never learned how to trust another person. Shiro was Keith's first true friend.

Keith had changed so much after becoming friends with Shiro and every day by being a part of Voltron, Keith was still changing. Shiro didn't know exactly how, but what he did know is that Keith was becoming a happier person because of it. Shiro couldn't explain it, but it made him feel proud.

If Shiro had to be sincerely honest, Keith was like a little brother to him. He would have told Lance, but he felt that his and Keith's past was a story for another time. For now, they had to help rebuild a broken society.

As for Lance, he was rather satisfied with that answer. It made Lance oddly glad that Keith actually had someone that cared about him before the whole Voltron thing went down. But it did make him realise that he didn't know a lot about Keith. Lance only knew what Keith had told him in the tunnels. Perhaps that would change after he woke up.

Shiro and Lance placed their helmets back on to their heads. Those thoughts were best kept for later.

It had been a mess when they had all first tried to rebuild the nearby village. It was decided that paladins were to be split up, Lance and Pidge becoming head leaders of groups of zilatians to help rebuild the villages. Lance and Pidge remained in the first village with Xi'lek most of the time, whilst Allura and Coran acted as the mediators between the two.

Xi'lek explained that in each village there was a leader elder. He was the last left alive. Whilst it didn't throw the zilatians into chaos without having a higher power, they worked together to rebuild and Xi'lek was burdened with many more duties.

The zilatians decided to re-build the villages closer to one another since their numbers were scaled down. In fact, a large ceremony was held on the second day for the departed. Xi'lek did the final rites for all of their dead. It was in their belief that there was no permanent death, that life would always begin anew once more and they would be reborn. However, it didn't make the grieving process any more comforting for the zilatians.

In the meanwhile, Shiro and Hunk were in charge of fixing the underground passages. They properly lit up the correct passages and gave it more direction. The zilatians had been violated in many ways due to the Baluke and they no longer wanted the creature near their sacred crystals. Shiro and Hunk with the help of many zilatians managed to move the Baluke's body out of the tunnels. Many of the grieving zilatians went looking for their loved ones remains in the Baluke's den. Most of them just came out with nothing and just more sorrow than before.

Lance and Pidge were no expert architects on zilatian buildings. They felt completely underprepared to be in charge. The pair was just thankful that they had Xi'lek doing most of the ordering around.

Pidge ended up carrying one too many stones. She was beginning to stumble and her arms were going numb, but she stubbornly did not want to drop them. That was when she spotted Lance. It appeared that he was finger painting a smiley face on a stone. Pidge blinked, had she just seen right? She got a closer look. It turned out that she had been correct.

"Lance, why are you painting a smiley face on that rock? And where did you even find paint?" Pidge asked.

Lance looked away from his "masterpiece" and wiped the yellow paint(?) from his hand on to the dirt below.

"Well this is meant to be the sign that goes over the school building and I thought that when kids see a smiley face it would actually make them want to go," Lance explained with a smirk, quickly noticing that Pidge looked ready to drop the rocks right then and there. "And Xi'lek showed me that when you crush some specific bugs, it makes a paste like paint."

"Nice," Pidge wanted to smile, but she was so close to dropping the stones. "While that dries could you help me carry some stone over to the house over there?"

Lance folded his arms across his chest. The smirk was growing on his face.

"I don't know," Lance let out a breath sarcastically, "It looks like you can handle that on your own."

Pidge stared at Lance incredulously. Did he really want to play this game with her?

"I have pictures of you cuddling a teddy bear in your sleep." Pidge stated. Her expression remained deadpanned.

"What?" Lance squeaked.

"The teddy bear you slept with when we were back at the Garrison, hiding in the third draw of your cupboard so Hunk wouldn't find it. If I'm correct it's the same bear that your mom got you when you were six. What did you call it? Mr snuggles?" Pidge had a small and devious twinkle appear in her eyes.

Lance stood there with his jaw dropped and his eyes wide.

"If you don't help me now, the secrets out and I'm showing everyone the pictures." Pidge threatened.

Lance gasped and stuttered. "Y-You're bluffing,"

"You really want to take that chance?" Pidge wasn't playing around. She had the ammunition and she was ready to fire.

Lance immediately took half of the stones from Pidge's miniature tower. He knew Pidge well and he wasn't going to risk it.

"You leave Mr Snuggle-Buns out of this," Lance glared, an angry pout was growing on his face. "How did you even find out about that?"

Pidge just grinned. "I have my ways."

"You're evil." Lance hissed, holding the stones closer to him.

"I know, and I love it." Pidge replied back with the grin on her face growing. She walked ahead allowing Lance to wallow in the fact of Pidge knowing one of his darkest secrets.

Funnily enough, Pidge actually had an entire USB flash drive full of blackmail worthy pictures of Lance and Hunk in her bag back in the Castle of Lions, but they didn't need to know that. Pidge glanced back for a moment to see Lance shaking his head at her with a smile beginning to show on his face.

He's starting to act normal again at least. She thought. Pidge couldn't help but sincerely smile.

After grumbling for a while, Lance eventually began to take the stones over to the house. It was when Lance was carrying the stones that he saw a nearby zilatian child playing with a doll, but it wasn't any doll, it had been the doll Keith found when they first searched the village.

Lance didn't mean to stare, but he couldn't help it. He remembered when Keith had been holding the doll. It happened moments before their communicators stopped working. It happened before the Baluke first attacked. It happened before Keith pushed him out of the way-

"Lance, may I speak with you?" Xi'lek drew Lance out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Y-Yeah," Lance put the stones down, dusting the dirt from his hands, "What's up?"

Xi'lek took Lance by the arm and walked over to somewhere more private.

"Many of my people and I have agreed that we must commence in another ceremony."

"Another ceremony?" Lance cocked his head to the side. "Why's that?"

"It is for what you would call a precaution. This afternoon everyone wishes to gather for a ceremony to free the souls of those devoured by the Baluke."

Lance nodded, "Okay. Sounds good,"

Xi'lek began to look sheepish, "Well, Lance, I ask you to help me."

"How?"

"During the ceremony I will start a fire and bless it. The fire should cleanse and release any lingering quintessence of the departed. I was hoping that you, having been one of the warriors to stop her, would want the honour of setting the Baluke ablaze."

Lance's mouth parted in a silent gasp. He had not been near the body of the Baluke since she had died. When Hunk and Shiro finished pulling out her carcass out from the underground tunnels, Lance had refused to go see it. He didn't plan on setting eyes on it again, but now Xi'lek was asking him to set the Baluke's body on fire, leaving nothing left.

"I'll be glad to do it."

The suns were setting and everyone had been informed of the ceremony. Hunk had finished repeatedly asking if Lance was okay with doing it for the fifth time when Lance finally gave a proper reply.

"Hunk, I need to do this, if not for my sake, but for the zilatians." And for Keith. Whilst it went unsaid, it was very clear. The sole purpose of the ceremony was for closure. Lance was just slightly saddened that Keith wasn't there to witness it.

Everyone stood around and they watched Xi'lek do the ceremony. No one seemed to notice that midway through the ceremony, Allura and Coran slipped away from the crowds in a rush.

Xi'lek spoke in the zilatian native tongue and he and three other zilatians threw buckets of a transparent fluid over the Baluke. Xi'lek started a fire with two stones on to a pile of branches. The fire raged and Xi'lek lit a torch, handing to Lance.

Lance stiffly walked over the Baluke with the torch in hand. Being up close to it once more was unsettling. He stared at the Baluke's body, only inches away with the flaming torch.

Everything that the Baluke had done would linger with the consequences. Death seemed far too generous. But that's when Lance remembered what he had been told. The monster had been created by the Galra. They were to blame. The Galra started the intergalactic war and it was up to Voltron to stop it. Every one of the paladins had something to bring to Voltron, whether it was brains, brawn or both. But what did he have to offer? Lance had questioned it before, but it never had more meaning until that moment.

Why did Keith save me? I'm not important. Lance thought to himself. I bring nothing to this team. It should be me in that healing pod.

When Lance wasn't immediately setting the Baluke on fire and just staring at, the others exchanged a glance of worry. It was a good few seconds that Lance didn't move that Shiro became prepared to step in, but Lance moved the torch toward the Baluke finally setting it on fire.

The fluid that the zilatians were throwing over the Baluke was extremely flammable. The fire spread all over the Baluke's body in moments. Lance was forced to back off from the body and watch from a far.

It gave a horrid stench, but it was endurable. They all stayed and watched as the flames danced on the Baluke's body. The paladins stayed until all that was left were smouldering piles of ash. Lance was the last person to keep staring at the remains.

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked.

Lance silently nodded as a reply.

"We should head back, it's getting dark." Shiro said.

The paladins turned around, not gazing at the Baluke's remains for a moment longer. It was over. It was on the way back to the castle that Hunk finally asked something that had been bothering him.

"Hey, does anyone know why Allura and Coran left the ceremony?"

Shiro stopped in his tracks and turned to Hunk.

"Wait what?"

"You didn't notice?" Hunk questioned.

"I didn't." Pidge chimed in, her eyes wide. Hunk looked to Lance whom had the same expression as Shiro and Pidge.

"Am I really the only one that noticed?" Hunk sheepishly asked.

The four of them exchanged a look to one another and rushed back to the castle. Immediately they could tell that something was amiss.

"Princess?" Shiro called out. He led the way, ready to spring into action if he needed to. Shiro had been so on edge, that he almost punched Coran in the face when he came around the corner.

"Ah! Paladins. Come this way," Coran was smiling. "Sorry to rush off during the ceremony, but Allura's alert began beeping and we needed to go,"

"Alert?" Pidge asked. Allura and Coran never mentioned anything to do with an alert. The honest truth was that they neglected to tell them because they didn't want their hopes to get up.

"For the healing pods," Coran answered. "What else?"

It was Lance who was the first to realise what that meant. Lance's face immediately lit up.

"Wait, so you mean that he's…?" Lance didn't need to finish.

Coran nodded.

"Keith's awake,"

Before the paladins could ask, Coran explained the situation as well as he could.

"Whilst he's awake and out of the healing pod, he is still quite weak, but that was to be expected. He should be up and around in a few days. Allura and I took him back to his room. We're running a few tests to make sure he's healed enough,"

That's all they needed to hear. They all rushed past Coran making their way to Keith's room.

"Wait! You didn't let me finish explaining!" Coran knew it was pointless and he sighed. "Earthlings."

The paladins barged in to see Keith handing back an empty container of water to Allura. Keith was sitting up, propped up by a pillow. He was still wearing the infirmary garbs and he still looked a little pale, but it was nowhere near as bad as it once was. If anything Keith just looked tired.

Keith and Allura both turned their heads toward the others. Allura and even Keith himself smiled upon seeing the others. When Hunk got his hands on Keith he gave him a giant squeeze. Keith was surprised at the sudden contact and he looked very confused, but he never once fought against it.

Allura laughed.

"Take it easy, Hunk, or you might send him back to the healing pod." Allura meant it as a joke, but Hunk quickly let go of Keith as a result.

Shiro gave Keith's shoulder a small pat with a smile.

"It's good to have you back." The relief was evident in Shiro's voice.

Pidge's bottom lip had been quivering and her eyes began to water. Keith barely looked at Pidge for more than a second when she suddenly latched herself around his waist.

"Never do that again." Pidge's voice may have been muffled, but everyone heard it clearly.

Keith looked so confused and panicked; he looked to Shiro as if to silently ask what to do. Shiro just gave him a reassuring smile as if to say 'just go with it'. Keith slowly began to pat Pidge's head with his arm resting on her back.

Lance lingered at the back of the group. He finally felt ready to say something, but what Keith said next made everyone grow silent.

"What was it that I did?"

By their reaction that is when Allura realised that they must have not listened to Coran. Pidge pulled away and joined the others as they all just collectively stared at Keith.

"You don't remember?" Shiro asked.

Keith looked away from Shiro and he began looking around in thought.

"I remember that Lance and I found a village. We were searching the empty houses when our communicators stopped working and then….." Keith was silent for a moment. "….and then it's all hazy from there."

"So you don't remember anything after that?" Shiro inquired, folding his arms across his chest.

Keith opened his mouth to answer, but he quickly shut it again. Allura placed a comforting hand on Keith's shoulder as Coran stepped into the room.

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Coran said. "This happens. Sometimes after being in a healing pod for extended amounts of time, they have a few side effects. One of the side effects is temporary memory loss."

"Temporary memory loss?" Keith asked. "So my memories will come back?"

Whilst Allura and Coran had spoken about it amongst the two of them, they hadn't gotten around to telling him.

Allura nodded.

"Give it some time and your memories will likely return," Allura frowned. "But this may be caused by the intensity of the ordeal you endured. So only time will tell."

Keith slowly nodded. He may have been still a little lethargic from coming out of the healing pod, but he could still feel Lance's intense gaze on him. It made him feel uneasy. The whole time he was talking he could feel Lance just staring at him. Keith finally turned his head to face him. The way Lance was looking at him was difficult to explain. It had to be a mix of relief, frustration and confusion. It had so many layers and it just didn't make sense to Keith.

"What?" Keith croaked. "No 'welcome back to the land of the living' or some other remark? I'm surprised with you; you're never usually this quiet. Not that I'm complaining." Keith tried to make it sound like a joke, but it came across as more sarcastic than anything else.

Lance stared for a moment longer and he looked away from Keith. He couldn't look him in the eye.

"Welcome back." Lance's reply was monotonousness.

Keith assumed Lance was being sarcastic and he just looked away with a small shake of the head. Keith didn't know what he expected, but he still found himself feeling an inkling of disappointment.

And that was all that was said between them. Lance wanted to say so much more, but that changed the moment they found out that Keith remembered nothing and just seeing him made everything different than how Lance thought it would play out. He wanted to say so many things, but he could no longer bring himself to say it.

Shiro glanced over to Lance for a moment, confused at the interaction. Shiro decided to step in and do most of the talking. He began explaining to Keith what happened. It was just the basic version. Shiro explained the Galra's involvement in making a creature and that the same creature had gone rogue and ended up capturing the zilatians.

"In the village you and Lance got attacked by the creature."

Lance instantly noticed Keith starting to rub his shoulder. It was the same shoulder that the Baluke had stabbed him with her stinger. Keith didn't seem to realise he was doing it. Keith stopped rubbing his shoulder and he looked down in thought. He tried to recall a trace of the memory, but just ended up frowning and letting out a small grunt of frustration.

"I was in the healing pod for three days so the fight must have got pretty bad, right?" Keith asked.

No one knew how to answer Keith. They all could clearly recall how horrible his injury had been, but they didn't like to dwell on such things. Lance on the other hand, he saw it every time he tried to shut his eyes. Never in Lance's life did he see so much blood. The memories of that day would be with him forever.

"Well," Allura decided to fill the silence. "What really matters is that you're alright now."

Keith was not satisfied with that answer.

"But what exactly happened to me?" Keith looked over to the blue paladin. "Lance?"

All eyes were on Lance. It's when Lance took one glance at Keith's clueless expression that he came to a realisation. He couldn't do it. He couldn't be the one to remind Keith what happened. If anything it was better this way. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Allura may have said that his memories would return in time, but that didn't mean that it had to be soon or that he had to be responsible for reminding him of the pain.

It's my fault he got hurt in the first place. I don't want to be what reminds him. I can't.

"Lance," Keith attempted to ask again. "What happened?"

"What's there to tell?" Lance forced a confident tone. "The monster attacked us and we lost the fight. You got hurt pretty bad and we got captured by the creature. We ran for a bit and got separated for a bit, and then we rescued you and the zilatians. Like I said, not much to tell."

This earned a confused look from everyone in the room. Coran even raised an eyebrow at him. Lance just shrugged in response.

"Care to share the actual details?" Keith dubiously asked, obviously growing frustrated.

"Nope," Lance put emphasis on the 'p', making a popping sound. "Get some rest."

Then Lance just walked out of the room without another single word. Everyone was obviously staggered at Lance's ambiguous reply and sudden stride out of the room.

"That's not an answer." Keith grunted and he began to try and get up.

It was obvious that Keith wanted to know what was going on. It was lucky for everyone else that Keith was still weak from the healing pods, otherwise he would have been out the room before they could've stopped him. Keith had barely sat up properly before Coran pushed him back down on to his bed. Keith glared at him, but Coran was unfazed.

"Where do you think you're going? You need to rest." Allura scolded, placing her hands on her hips.

Whilst Keith was rolling his eyes at Allura, Shiro silently looked to Hunk and cocked his head toward the door. Hunk immediately understood.

"I'll go see what's up." Hunk said, leaving the room to go after Lance.

Shiro looked back over to Keith. He was grimacing. Shiro knew Keith to know that he was already getting frustrated.

The truth was that Keith just wanted to know what happened. Having so much time missing from his memory was alarming. He didn't like not knowing.

"Listen," Shiro began. "These past couple of days haven't been easy for Lance. Just give him a little time to adjust. We did almost lose you,"

"Yeah, Shiro's right," Pidge agreed. She sat on the side of bed next to Keith. "Besides, Lance may not be acting like it, but he's just as worried as the rest of us. After what happened to you, I'm not surprised that he doesn't want to talk about it."

"You all keep saying things like that," Keith mumbled. "But what does it all mean? You're just leaving me with more questions, like how hurt was I? You're saying that you almost lost me, how bad did it get? And what happened to the creature? "

"We hadn't gotten around to telling him the details yet." Allura explained.

Shiro nodded and he honestly didn't know how much detail that he should delve into, but he was willing to try his best.

"I'll try to answer any questions you have, okay?" Shiro promised.

Keith knew that Shiro didn't have the all the answers he was looking for, but he also knew it was a start to piecing the puzzle together. Keith sighed in defeat and nodded.

"While they do that I want to do a quick blood test." Coran said, pulling out something that looked like a syringe.

Keith groaned and sunk back down into his pillow.

Hunk saw Lance walking down at the end of the hall. Hunk had to run to try and catch up before Lance could disappear around the corner.

"Lance! Lance, slow down!" Hunk called out. Lance didn't listen and he kept walking. Hunk managed to halt him at the control deck, grabbing on to Lance's arm so he couldn't avoid the conversation.

"What's going on with you? Why didn't you just tell Keith what happened?" Hunk asked.

Lance tried to pull his arm away, but Hunk only held on tighter. Hunk bit the inside of his mouth. He wasn't sure whether to ask his next question or not, but he ended up saying it anyway.

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Hunk hesitantly asked

Lance froze.

Yeah right.

It was a good few moments before Lance finally looked like he was breathing again. He turned around and faced Hunk.

"He doesn't remember any of it," Lance tried to explain himself. "I can't….I won't…."

"Lance, you're not making any sense." Hunk slowly released his grip on Lance's arm. Lance looked Hunk in the eye.

"He doesn't remember, Hunk, but I do. And trust me when I say this, I can't be the one to remind him about it. I won't, I refuse." Lance admitted.

Hunk frowned and his eyes became empathetic. His lips were slightly perked in a joyless lop-sided frown.

"It's been three days since the whole thing went down. Lance, you're my best friend, you tell me everything. If anything you overshare. But not once have you spoken about what happened down in those tunnels before you found us. If that doesn't say something about how bad it was down there in those tunnels for you and Keith then I don't know what to tell you,"

"What are you trying to say?" Lance asked.

"What I'm saying is that I'm with you with whatever you decide to do. I mean, I think you should talk to Keith, but if you say that it's probably better for Keith not to know then I trust your word for it."

"Thanks Hunk." Lance slowly smiled.

Hunk opened up his arms and he slowly started to nod as Lance shook his head.

"Bring it in." Hunk playfully demanded.

Lance snorted with laughter, but eventually complied. It was a good and solid hug, a hug that Lance justly needed. It was times like those that Lance was grateful that Hunk was a paladin as well. Lance may have missed his family, but at least it was bearable with Hunk around. (And Pidge, but she wasn't there. She missed the moment.)

Hunk and Lance spent a good few minutes sitting beside each other and talking. Lance told Hunk about the moment when he and Keith got separated. He didn't go into too much detail, but he told Hunk more than he had told anyone else.

"He had this look in his eyes," Lance held himself, rubbing his arms like they were cold. "It's something I won't be able to forget because I have no doubt that it's the look someone gets when they're ready to die,"

Hunk's eyes went wide as he listened to Lance.

"That's…." Hunk couldn't think of a good word to describe what he thought, so he just went with the first word that made sense. "….That's intense,"

"Yeah, and the worst part is that he was ready to sacrifice himself to save me. He was ready to die for me. I just…" Lance trailed off with a sigh. "…I just don't know how to feel about that."

Hunk was silent for a good few seconds before he replied.

"I'm stumped. I don't know either," Hunk confessed. "And he doesn't remember so it's not like you can talk to him about it or even yell at him about it. I mean, you could yell at him, but he would have no idea what you're talking about,"

Lance slowly turned his head and he gawked at Hunk.

"Thank you, Hunk, for stating the obvious," Lance rolled his eyes. "And that's not even half of what and wanted to talk to him about,"

Hunk let out a large exhale and thought about the whole situation.

"Dude, you're literally between a rock and hard place. If you do talk to Keith about it, it won't do much good because he doesn't remember. You could talk to him about it, but you risk making him remember everything and you don't want that for obvious reasons. But if you don't it's going to chew you up inside because it's something the two of you should talk about."

Lance frowned. Hunk just about summed up a simple version of it. There was still a lot that Lance didn't divulge, like the gruelling guilt that ran through him. Lance kept that to himself. The guilt was his burden and he had no one to blame but himself. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

Suddenly the pair's conversation was interrupted as Shiro, Pidge and Allura joined them on the observation deck.

"There you are. We've been looking for the two of you." Allura fretted.

"Are you alright?" Pidge asked. "You just walked out."

Lance nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. How is he?"

Shiro was the one to answer.

"Well, I explained what I could. I didn't go into too much detail. I just told what I remember and I went into a little more detail that at some point that the two of you got captured, then separated, then we saved him and we've been helping the zilatians rebuild ever since,"

Pidge nodded.

"The moment Shiro stopped talking, Keith was out. He fell right asleep as Coran was doing a blood test. He was exhausted."

Coran came walking in with perfect timing at the mention of his name.

"I think you all will be happy to know that Keith's blood count is almost back to normal and there is no trace of the venom left throughout his system." Coran stated. "It's lucky that Keith's body was so resilient."

"So he really doesn't remember?" Lance abruptly asked. He knew the answer, but he needed to hear it again from someone else.

Allura looked at him with an unsure expression.

"It may be one of the brief effects from being in the healing pod for so long or it could possibly just be due to the trauma. Like I said before, only time will tell."

"Ok," Lance nodded, placing one hand on his hip as he gazed at the floor in thought.

"You should probably go talk to him about it tomorrow," Shiro suggested. "There were a lot of questions I couldn't answer.

Lance shook his head. "No, I can't,"

"Lance-" Allura didn't get to finish what she was saying.

"None of you were there. You didn't see how he was. I meant what I said. No. N-O. No," Lance replied. "All that matters is that we got out and he's alive. Isn't that enough?"

Shiro, Coran and Allura grew silent, but Pidge was not going to let the silence linger.

"Just because you don't talk about it, it doesn't mean he won't remember." Pidge confidently stated.

Pidge wasn't trying to start a fight with Lance. She did understand albeit not completely, but she did know Lance well enough to know that he had his reasons. But she also knew that Keith still had questions, and that it would be unfair to leave them unanswered.

Hunk decided to back up Lance before any more confusion could conquer the group.

"What Lance is trying to say is that since it's a fifty/fifty chance of Keith remembering. He doesn't want to risk telling him anything that could trigger those memories to come back. Keith did almost die, why would you want him to remember that?"

If anyone understood anything about traumatising memories, it was Shiro. He understood better than any of the others would know. He couldn't remember a lot from his time with the galra, but sometimes it came back in flashes at random moments. Normally he would see something vaguely familiar and it would trigger a memory. The memories he experienced always shook him to his core. Shiro didn't want Keith having to going through that.

That's when Shiro finally understood that Lance wasn't being stubborn; he was trying to protect Keith. If Shiro were in the same situation where he remembered everything and Keith didn't he would be doing the same thing. But he also knew Keith, and Shiro knew that he would go looking for answers.

Shiro's loud exhale drew the attention of the others.

"We're not going to force you, Lance," Shiro looked at Lance with an empathetic gaze. "But it's also not fair to ignore Keith if he has questions. We all want to keep him safe, but they are his memories. If they come back, it can't be helped. All we can do is be there for him."

Lance understood what Shiro was saying, he really did. But he just couldn't do it.

I can barely look him in the eye, let alone tell him that it was my fault he got hurt in the first place. I've caused him enough damage. I will not be the cause of any more.

Lance felt a coward, but he really just could not bring himself to do it, at least, not in that moment.

"I'll think about it." Lance mumbled. That was all they were going to get out of him. The answer was vague, but it was enough to please the others.

With that, Lance began to leave the observation deck for his room. No one went after him this time. He was glad that no one did, he needed to be on his own for a while. Lance found himself passing by Keith's room. He lingered near the door before he decided not to check on Keith and continue his way to his room.

Keith didn't remember and it was for the best that he kept it that way. At least, that's what Lance kept telling himself.

The bed rest was driving Keith nuts. He wasn't the kind of person to be able just sit still and rest. He had slept for more than ten hours (well, they felt like hours), he was ready to get back out and walk around. However he was ordered by Coran and the princess to get some bed rest. Apparently tiredness and fatigue was another set of side-effects from being in the healing pod for so long. So he not only had memory loss, he was also confined to his bedroom. He was ready to rebel.

Pidge and Hunk came to visit him earlier that morning. The two were both in their paladin armour. Keith didn't fail to notice that Lance was nowhere to be seen, but that honestly didn't surprise him.

Hunk ended up asking the inevitable question.

"How are you?"

"Better than I was last night," Keith wasn't lying, he did feel better. If anything, he felt ready enough to go out and fight someone. "So where's my armour gone? Is it back in the uniform pod?"

Pidge nodded.

"Yeah, although Coran's been taking it out a lot. He's been mending and cleaning it."

Keith shifted his position in an attempt to get comfortable again. He found himself almost asking about Lance's whereabouts, but he already felt like he wouldn't get a straight answer, nor was he sure if he really wanted to ask. So instead he just asked something else that was on his mind.

"If you don't mind me asking, what have I missed from being in the pod?" Keith felt the need to clarify, "Are the zilatians doing okay?"

Pidge and Hunk lead the conversation into the process of rebuilding and how the zilatians were working together. The three talked for a good while before Keith began complaining that he wanted to walk around. In fact Keith was about to make an attempt to get out of bed with the other two watching idly by, but they was caught by Allura whom was bringing in some food goo.

Allura ended up informing Pidge and Hunk that it was time to go down to the village and that Shiro was waiting. The pair shot Keith some empathetic looks as Allura reminded Keith that he had to remain in bed. The two other paladins claimed that they would check to see how he was later before being ushered out by the princess.

Coran kept checking on Keith in his room like clockwork after that. It forced Keith to stay where he was. Keith would have done something, but he did still feel weak. He was in and out of sleep for the rest of the morning, but after waking up for the fourth time he couldn't sleep anymore.

He was staring at the walls of his room when Shiro along with Coran came to visit him during what Keith assumed to be midday on Zilate. Keith sat up in his bed and turned his head to the two.

"I need to get out of this bed. I need something else to do besides staring at these walls," Keith complained.

"That's why you're meant to be sleeping." Coran grinned knowing he was pushing Keith's buttons.

"I'm not tired. I can't sleep anymore," Keith tried not to sound like an angry toddler, but the statement itself still sounded childish. And it didn't help that the next thing he did was sit up in his bed and fold his arms across his chest.

"How are you feeling?" Shiro asked.

"I feel like I'm ready to get out of this bed." Keith retorted.

Shiro let out a soft chuckle. Keith was only ever that snappy when he didn't get enough sleep or if he overslept. It was hard to tell which one it was, but either way it was better than having him in a healing pod induced coma. Shiro looked to Coran.

"What do you think, Coran? Should we let him out of his prison?" Shiro mused.

"Hmmm," Coran pondered and took a good look at Keith. "In a few hours we'll see, but you should be well enough to attend the farewell, but for now just try to get more rest."

Keith was just going to complain about resting once more, but he suddenly perked up. He had to check that he had heard right.

"Wait, we're leaving Zilate?"

Shiro nodded, "We've done what we can. We just finishing up today and we're leaving tonight. The zilatian elder that Lance befriended wants to send us off with a blessing during their sunset. We couldn't refuse them that."

"It is a great honour." Coran beamed.

"So I'm stuck here until then?" Keith groaned.

"You're still recovering, so the answer is yes," Coran replied. "I'll check up on you later."

As soon as Coran left Keith grumpily sunk his head down into his pillow.

"Can you at least get Coran to stop checking on me? I'm not a kid." Keith grumbled.

Shiro just softly chuckled and pet Keith's shoulder.

"So how are you really?" Shiro asked again.

"I am still a bit tired," Keith told the truth, "But I can't sleep anymore. I am better, Shiro. I'm ready to get out up and do something."

Shiro knew that Keith was getting antsy due to the fact that everyone else was doing something to help the zilatians whilst he just sat in bed.

"The more you rest now, the more strength you'll have later."

Keith made a grunting sound as a reply. He knew he had to listen to Shiro and Coran, but it didn't mean that he had to like it.

"Well, I should head back. I only wanted to see how you were doing. There are still a few things I need to do in the village before we head off." Shiro was almost out the door when Keith called out it him.

"Wait, Shiro, I need to ask you something,"

Shiro paused and turned around back to Keith with one hand still resting on the door frame. Keith seemed hesitant at first, but he knew that he couldn't take too much more time to ask.

"Keith?"

"Forget it. It's nothing," Keith looked down into his lap.

Shiro was silent. He knew what Keith was really trying to ask, which was something along the lines of 'did anyone else get hurt by the creature like me?'. Shiro knew that was just worried and he just didn't want to admit it.

"No one else got hurt. It was only you," Shiro stepped closer back to Keith's bed. "If I'm not mistaken, you didn't give the creature a chance to. When we were fighting the creature, you still managed to deal out some damage before it could hurt anyone,"

Keith sighed; of course Shiro would be able to see through his question.

"I want to say that I remember doing that, but I don't." Keith continued to stare down into his lap.

Shiro knew where Keith was going with the conversation, so he sat on Keith's bedside and he waited for Keith to look him in the eye.

"Listen to me. Don't hold it against yourself for not remembering. Take me for example, I still don't remember a lot from my time with the galra," Shiro explained. "If I learned anything from it, it's that no matter how hard I wanted to remember, I couldn't."

"Shiro-"

"I'm not done, so please just hear me out," Shiro didn't continue until Keith looked at him attentively. "Memories tend to come back in their own time. Sometimes memories come back and sometimes they don't. But not knowing can be a gift. So don't try to force them out, they'll come back to if they're meant to. And if they do come back, we're all here for you,"

Keith slowly nodded. If anyone knew about lost memories, it was Shiro. Keith trusted his word.

"Ok," Keith mumbled. "But what about Lance?"

Shiro cocked his head to the side.

"What about him?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would have given anything just to hear a lame joke from him last night," Keith admitted. "Don't get me wrong, the guy annoys me half to death, but even I could see that he wasn't being himself. I know that something is wrong. I don't know what I said or did or what happened in those tunnels, but it was enough to get him upset with me,"

Shiro took a moment to absorb what he just heard. All he could do was tell Keith how he honestly saw the situation.

"Lance isn't upset with you. He's upset at what happened to you,"

"Really? Then why won't he tell me anything? You know that Lance is avoiding me, right? Everyone has seen me today except him. I'm not stupid, Shiro, I know what that means,"

Shiro shook his head, "It's not what you think it is,"

"Isn't it?"

Shiro shook his head again, "No, it isn't. You're thinking that he's doing it out of spite, but he's not,"

"Then what is it?" Keith asked.

Shiro was about to answer before the communicator in his helmet sparked to life. Keith couldn't hear it clearly, but he had no doubt that it was Allura asking why Shiro was taking so long. Shiro looked hesitant to answer back, but he quickly answered.

"I'll be there in a few ticks." Shiro knew that if he said minutes or seconds that the princess just would have gotten confused.

"You have to go." Keith didn't ask, he was stating it as a fact.

"We'll finish this conversation," Shiro declared. "And like I said last night, give him some time and he'll come around, and when he does I think that the two of you need to talk."

Keith sighed and nodded. He trusted Shiro's word on it, but it didn't mean that Keith still didn't have his doubts on the matter.

"If he'll talk to me, or even better yet, if I want to talk to him." Keith grumbled.

"He will," Shiro assured. The optimism in his voice made it seem like he was absolutely sure that they would. Shiro just sounded a little too confident for Keith's comfort. "If not, when you see him next just give it a try."

Shiro immediately stood up from the bed.

"I've got to go, will you be okay?"

Keith forced a lopsided smile.

"Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere." Keith remarked. It earned a small smile on Shiro's face.

"Get some rest."

And then Shiro speedily left the room, leaving Keith alone with his thoughts. Keith sunk back down into his pillow and shut his eyes. He wasn't sleeping; he had too much to think about.

The night prior, Shiro had helped him fill the gaps of how he got hurt. His shoulder had been bleeding from being stabbed by the creature's stinger. The stinger had been laced with venom so it meant that he had been bleeding and poisoned. Keith didn't remember how it happened, but knowing what his injuries were was a start.

Whilst Keith was curious as to what happened when fighting the monster, he wanted to know more of what happened when it was just him and Lance. Despite the rivalry, he did care about Lance, not that he would say it to his face, but he did care. And Keith knew that something happened for Lance to be so distant. They weren't exactly close before, in fact they argued every day, but the version of Lance he saw the night he woke up, well, Keith had never seen that side to him before.

It's not that Keith remembered what happened, but when he really thought hard about it, he could feel the vague shadows of his memories buried deep in the recesses of his mind. It was almost torture to know that they were so close yet so far away.

It was like the feeling of forgetting a word, but having on the tip of his tongue. It was as if an itch would appear when he thought about it long enough, but whenever he would scratch he would feel a range of things, but the most common two being pain with the slightest inkling of dread. It was like Keith's mind had warning signs over a locked door and he kept jiggling at the handle.

It was only after what Shiro said that Keith took it as a sign not to push at it anymore. Like Shiro had once said, if his memories were meant to comeback, they would. He couldn't force it.

Keith was drawn out of his thoughts at the sound of his bedroom door opening. Keith without a single doubt knew that it was Coran coming to check if he was still in bed. Internally groaning, Keith made sure to keep his eyes shut to make it look like he was sleeping.

After a short moment, Keith heard the door shut again. Keith snuck open one eye to see if Coran was gone. When he saw the room was empty he immediately shot up.

Keith had enough of sitting around. He was going to get up do something.

His legs felt heavier than normal, but he still managed to conjure the strength to stand. It lasted less than a second before Keith almost collapsed. Keith leant on the wall and he took a few deep breaths. He stayed like that until he felt confident enough to try and walk. By some miracle he was doing it. Keith took it one small step at a time around his room before he began picking up the pace.

It felt good to stretch his legs. Keith made his way to his wardrobe and got changed back into his casual clothing. He had enough of wearing the infirmary garbs. Keith struggled for a while, but he eventually got it off. After he was comfortably clothed he poked his head from his door to check if Coran was still in the halls. He was not.

Keith knew he had to figure out where he was going before he just walked around the castle. That's when he remembered that his armour was back in the uniform pod so he made the last minute decision to make that his destination.

Keith quietly poked his head out before he walked out of his room and made his way to the training deck. He knew he only had a short span of freedom before Coran would notice he was gone or find him.

He made his way there with little to no issues. Coran was nowhere in sight. That itself should have been a red flag that something was wrong, but Keith didn't see the signs.

Keith gazed upon his armour. The armour looked like it was as new as the day he first laid eyes on it. Keith was about to grab his armour when the voice of specific orange haired altean's startled him.

"It took a while, but its back in working order. You'll have to thank, Hunk for fixing the communicator in your helmet though."

Coran had been tailing Keith for a while but he only decided that then he would make his presence known.

Keirh knew was caught. He also knew that it was obvious what he was doing and he found that there was no point in lying. So he instead just stood there and stared at Coran in silence.

Coran just let out a large sigh.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get your armour on and we can head down to the village,"

Keith blinked at him for a good few seconds.

"What? Aren't you going to chain me to my bed or something to stop me from leaving?"

"No, you're as stubborn as a gwilef. They're don't like listening to anyone, much like yourself," Coran stated, "Beside, I know you're not going to rest any more and while you're up and around we might as well make ourselves useful. Just stay where I can keep an eye on you."

Despite the…well, what Keith assumed was an insult, he suddenly had a new appreciation for Coran.

Stepping out of the castle, Keith realised that the castle was placed in the centre of the trees. The fallen trees remained sticking out from under the castle. It was obvious that Coran and Allura would have been in a rush to land, otherwise they would have landed elsewhere with more land rather than having the Castle of Lions crushing the zilatian trees.

Keith's gaze wandered over to see a cave in the distance. A sense of familiarity hit him. He instantly just knew it was the entrance for tunnels where the creature had taken him and Lance. As he stared at it, he felt a sense of dread. It was as if he dared to step in there, he would not be the same. That he would be taken by a wave of memories.

Keith was not the kind of person to admit to fear, but that was the only emotion he could feel welling in his chest. For a moment he thought he heard Lance shouting his name and the sound of rocks tumbling.

But the voice filtered out, sounding like someone calling out his name like he was underwater. Keith snapped out of it and he realised it was Coran.

"Keith, the village is this way. Keith?"

"Yeah, I'm listening." Keith forcibly ripped his gaze away from the cave making the decision that it was better if he didn't go back into those tunnels.

Coran made small talk on their way to the village. To put it lightly, it was awkward for the both of them. It's not that they didn't get along; it was just that the two were never really left alone together so it was all new. Keith didn't have much input in the odd Altean trivia that Coran was speaking about. Keith would just throw in an occasional nod of the head, but honestly he was secretly hoping that they would get to the village soon. It was in those moments that he couldn't help but want Lance's ability to be able to talk to anyone without it getting uncomfortable.

After walking for a while and a lot of awkward chatting, they finally made it to the village. Coran tried to keep an eye on Keith as long he could, but with some zilatians asking him questions he quickly lost track of him. It also didn't help that Keith didn't seem to care and he went off by himself to take a look around the village.

It was definitely livelier than Keith remembered. The last he saw it the place was completely deserted. Keith had to stop in his tracks as a few zilatian children ran past him, playing a game of some sort.

Keith did not fail to notice that one of the children was holding a doll. Keith may have had gaps in his memory, but he remembered finding the same doll in an empty home. It warmed his heart to know that the child was safe and that they had found their doll.

As he watched where the children were running off to, his eyes remained glued to a specific area. It was nothing special about it, but a sudden thought rose in his mind. The thought was the image of yellow blood. Keith knew it was too random to be just an odd thought. It was a piece from the jigsaw that was his memory.

Suddenly it felt like his left shoulder was punctured and set on fire. Keith hissed at the sudden pain and he clasped his hand over his shoulder. There was no reason for his shoulder to be hurting, but it stopped soon after it began. The phantom pain was strange, but Keith didn't feel too confused about. If anything, it felt too familiar for comfort.

Keith was snapped out of his mild state of recollection, hearing the sounds of someone dropping something. He turned around to see a zilatian trying to pick up many scrolled up pieces of parchment that were scattered across the ground.

"Did you need some help?" Keith ended up contradicting his question after he didn't wait for an answer and helped to gather up the parchments. Keith passed them to the zilatian.

"Thank you," The zilatian did a double take upon seeing Keith's face and his demeanour changed from gratitude to a surprised yet content expression. "The paladin of red, Keith, you have recovered!"

Keith blinked at him.

"Sorry, but who are you?"

Xi'lek was unfazed by Keith's question.

"I am not surprised if you don't recognise me. The light of the tunnels do not compare to daylight," Xi'lek reassured. "We met in the tunnels. I am Xi'lek."

The sound of the zilatians name had awoken something in Keith. He felt like something had ripped the air from his lungs as he suddenly recalled something. It was in fragments. He remembered images of blue crystals glowing and webs everywhere. Something he remembered hearing was Lance's voice telling him the name of the zilatian he was talking to.

"You were webbed up to the wall across from Lance," Keith was surprised with himself at what he just said.

Xi'lek was obviously pleased at Keith seemingly remembering him, not even realising what that meant to Keith.

"Yes," Xi'lek nodded. "I have to say that after I saw the Baluke take you into her den, I thought you would be eaten, but then Lance returned with the other paladins and they went to slay the Baluke and save you."

Keith remained silent listening to every word Xi'lek was saying as Xi'lek continued.

"When I saw the paladin of black run out with you in his arms, I thought you were going to die,"

Listening to Xi'lek's words set something off with Keith. More fragments came back to him. They all didn't make sense. He recalled yellow and red eyes staring down at him, yellow blood and an inhuman screeching sound. It was particularly frightening, but Keith did feel his hair begin to stand.

Xi'lek suddenly remembered what he was holding.

"That's right. They still need these parchments. It was good speaking to you, Keith, the paladin of red. But I apologize. I must take my leave."

Xi'lek began to rush off with the parchments. Keith remained standing there, trapped in thought as his mind vigorously tried to decode the random fragments he remembered. What frustrated him the most is that they weren't full memories, they just unclear portions of a few of them.

"Keith? What are you doing out here?"

He was drawn out of whatever trance-like state he just momentarily fell into. He turned around instantly to see that it was Pidge.

"You didn't sneak out, did you?"

Keith shook his head.

"No, Coran let me out. He's around here," Keith looked around, not spotting Coran anywhere, "Somewhere."

"Cool," She sounded optimistic before she got a good look at his face. "Are you sure you should be out and about? You're looking pretty tired."

"I'm fine," Keith assured. "Where's everyone else?"

"Hunk's with Lance in the next village over while Shiro and Allura are in the tunnels sorting some stuff out with the locals."

Keith was partly glad that Shiro and Allura were elsewhere. He knew that they would have just nagged at him to rest.

"How about you help me for a bit?" Pidge grabbed him by the arm. "Come on."

Pidge didn't leave Keith much choice and he just ended up following Pidge. Needless to say, he was stuck doing the physical work and he ended up carrying some boxes of rations around for Pidge. They delivered a box to each house that held a zilatian family.

Seeing a family together after the whole torment they had been through and being genuinely happy put a smile on Keith's face. He didn't remember what it was like to have a family. His mother died when he was young and his father was never in the picture. But it was simple moments like those when for a moment he felt like he could imagine it.

Being a paladin of Voltron had become so important to him because of this. Mostly everyone in the universe had a family. Keith didn't, but it did not mean he wouldn't do anything in his power to protect the moments between families like he saw.

He had nothing waiting for him back on Earth, but he did have this resolve and to him it was absolute.

By the time Pidge and Keith finally ended up finishing up, the suns were beginning to set and Shiro and Allura had gotten back to the village. Time seemed to pass so quickly. Keith had to assure the two that Coran had let him out. Shiro and Allura accepted the answer as valid once they saw Coran approaching them from a distance.

The five of them lead the way back to the castle with Xi'lek and many of the zilatians coming to watch the farewell. Back at the castle, Hunk and Lance were waiting for them.

Keith and Lance shared a brief moment of eye contact before Lance broke it off by looking away. Keith just rolled his eyes as a response. He didn't know what Lance's problem was, but he also knew that starting a conversation over it now only screamed of disaster. So Keith decided to let it go for that moment.

As soon as everyone was gathered near the castle, Xi'lek got the members of team Voltron to stand next to each other in a line. It was purely unintentional, but he forced Lance and Keith to stand by one another. Both of them avoided eye contact and ignored the other.

Xi'lek had two perfectly rounded stones and he continuously hit them together as he began chanting in zilatian. It went on for a while as he chanted, but it seemed like he was in mid-sentence when he stopped.

The local spectators began to applaud them.

"And this is where we say our goodbyes." Xi'lek placed the stones down back on to the ground.

Allura stepped forward.

"This is for you and your people. If you ever find yourself in danger, know that Voltron will come running." Allura passed the beacon into Xi'lek's hands.

Xi'lek stared down at the device, looking back up to Allura as he smiled.

"We can't thank you for all you've done," Xi'lek bowed his head in respect. "Thank you all."

"We just wish that we could have done more." The princess frowned.

"The zilatian race lives on. We will forever mourn the ones we lost, but now all we can do is live. And life is the greatest gift of them all," Xi'lek looked over to Lance and Keith. "May I have a word to the paladins of red and blue before you leave?"

"Of course." Allura nodded. She silently signalled the others to leave them be, giving them so privacy.

Xi'lek smiled at the two paladins.

"The two of you are great warriors. And you both kept your word that you would come back to save us. Thank you," Xi'lek turned to Keith, "And you, Keith, you suffered the most in this rescue, even sacrificing yourself in order to save your teammate so that my people could be saved."

Lance didn't want Xi'lek to push more on the subject for Keith's sake.

"Xi'lek," Lance began. "Keith doesn't-"

"I wanted to keep my word. We did promise that we'd save you and your people, didn't we? My sacrifice wasn't in vain. We saved you and your people and that's what counts." Keith said it so confidently that it left Lance speechless.

Lance couldn't help but stare at Keith incredulously. Did he really have no regard for his life? But more importantly, did he remember all of a sudden?

"And so you did," Xi'lek nodded, taking a hold of one of Lance's and Keith's hands in each of his. "I will never forget this and neither will my people. You are heroes. Please always remember that."

The two paladins slowly nodded and Xi'lek let them go.

"Now go and may the stars protect you."

The two paladins turned away, going back into the castle. Once the hanger doors shut and the ship was lifting off that Lance glanced over at Keith. But before Lance could open his mouth to say anything, Keith bet him to it.

"I actually remember that promise. When he asked if we could save them, I nodded yes. He warned us that the tunnels were like a maze," Keith sounded more like he was thinking aloud rather than informing Lance of the memory. "He was talking about it and it just popped in my head. But that's a good thing, right?"

It was in that moment that Lance knew that if he were to talk about the events like Xi'lek then Keith would probably remember more. Lance did not want that. Keith had saved him, and if he could repay him of that debt, even just a little, then giving him the gift of not reminding him of all the pain he had gone through would be the least he could do.

Without a word, Lance shrugged at Keith's question and walked away. Keith angrily frowned and looked away from Lance and he crossed his arms.

"So nothing really has changed," Keith muttered to himself. "Why does he hate me so much?"

Deep down Keith knew that Lance didn't hate him, but he couldn't explain how he knew. The chain of memories was still inside him waiting to rise from their sleep, but Keith didn't know that, not yet.

Keith let out a puff of air, blowing his fringe away from his face. He felt like he had done nothing for most of the day, but he was still so exhausted. Keith had to remind himself that it was a side-effect from being in the healing pod for so long and not because he was weak. He was going to bed because he knew that as soon as his head hit the pillow that he would be out like a light.

Meanwhile as Lance walked down the halls of the castle he found himself in his lion's bay. It was no coincidence that he found himself there. Lance heard the familiar call of his lion within his mind. Through their bond, the blue lion spoke to him. While it wasn't exactly in words that the blue lion was speaking, Lance just knew that she was glad that he had finally gone to see her. Lance found himself smiling, resting a hand against the blue lion's paw.

"It's good to see you too, Blue."

A sad smile appeared on Lance's face as he felt the blue lion speak to him again. She wanted to know if he was alright. Even his lion knew that her paladin was upset.

"I'll be okay," He reassured his lion. "It might take a while, but I'll be okay."

And that was the first time he was truthful to himself in a long time.

It was at the dining hall during the following morning that it felt like the events at Zilate were just some surreal dream. But of course, it wasn't. Everyone had already gathered in the dining hall, but Lance was still nowhere to be seen.

Keith may have been the second to be in the dining hall aside from Hunk, but he didn't take a single bite out of his food. Keith had his elbow propped up on the table, holding his head with a disinterested expression as he continuously poked around at his food goo with his Altean eating utensil. He didn't have much of an appetite.

Keith didn't tell anyone but when he woke up that morning, he began remembering more details about being chased in the passages by the creature. He would have told someone, but there wasn't much to tell. The memory itself was like a blur. He remembered trying to run, being in a lot of pain and then just darkness. It was more confusing than anything.

When Shiro finally noticed what Keith was doing with his food goo, he frowned and sighed.

"Keith, please stop playing with your food."

As a silent reply, Keith just placed down the utensil and stared at the goo instead in defiance.

Shiro frowned again, but before he could tell Keith to eat the goo, Lance finally arrived into the dining hall. He looked like death itself. Lance had large bags under his eyes, it looked like he didn't get any sleep at all and on top of that he just had this aura that felt like death. Normally he would look as fresh as a daisy, but by the looks of it, the daisy had withered and died.

"Good morning." Hunk greeted.

Lance yawned and made some sort of sound that sounded like some sort of reply. Lance shuffled over and sat next to Hunk.

"Morning." Lance yawned.

Once Lance was at the table for a good while, Allura decided to make her announcement.

"I think that today you should all go up against the gladiator."

Keith and Shiro immediately perked, but all for different reasons.

"Are you sure?" Shiro asked. "So soon?"

"I'm ready!" Keith exclaimed. He wanted nothing more to get start training again. He had felt ready for a while. He was sick of being babied.

"Then it's settled. Training will begin in an Earth hour." Allura announced.

Keith immediately leapt up and left to grab his gear. He looked a little too excited to get ready for training. Pidge even let out a small huff of laughter seeing how fast Keith was out the door.

Coran was taking the empty bowls of food goo when Shiro stood from his chair. Shiro was exactly angry, but he had a very stern expression that sent a few chills through the paladin's spines.

"Princess, may I speak to you in private?"

By Allura's expression, she had expected Shiro wanting to speak to her so the two left the dining hall. The four remaining paladins stared at Shiro and Allura with confused expressions.

"Well you heard the princess. You all should start getting ready." Coran commanded, taking the stacks of dirty dishes with him, but not before he disapprovingly looked down at Keith's still full bowl.

Hunk got up from his seat and gave a stretch, cracking his back in the process.

"Well, I'm going to experiment with the new herbs and plants I found on Zilate before training. Anyone wanna come and join me?"

Pidge gave a small shrug.

"Sure," She adjusted her glasses, "It's not like I have anything else to do."

"Lance, you in?" Hunk asked. "Lance?"

"I'll catch up with you later. I just got to do a few things first." Lance replied.

"You know where to find us." Hunk said as he and Pidge left.

And just like that Lance was left alone in the dining hall.

Perfect.

Lance had decided that Shiro and Allura's sudden leave was a little too suspicious for his liking. With the mystery surrounding it, he couldn't help but want to investigate. Lance was going to do some snooping.

He stalked down the halls until he pinpointed the sound of their voices coming from the control deck. As he got closer he realised that Shiro and Allura were arguing about something. It's not that Lance would purposely try to eavesdrop on a private conversation, but he couldn't help but be curious as to what they were discussing so heatedly.

"I don't see what the problem is," Allura's eyebrows furrowed into a frown. "Keith even said it himself that he's ready."

Lance remained hidden near the archway near the door. The conversation definitely sparked his interest now.

"Keith isn't the kind of person that likes to been seen as vulnerable. He's only saying that he's ready because wants to prove himself," Shiro explained whilst he crossed his arms. "I think he should take a break from training for at least a few more days."

"Normally I would agree with you, Shiro, but physically he has recovered," Allura argued. "And Zarkon isn't one to take breaks."

"I know that, but what if he's not ready?" Shiro began to pace back and forth while Allura remained stationary.

"You're letting your emotional attachment cloud your judgement," Allura stated.

Shiro frowned. "Are you not worried?"

"I never said that I wasn't," Allura defended. "But Keith survived. It's over now."

"Well he almost didn't make it," Shiro sighed.

"You shouldn't let this haunt you, Shiro." Allura placed a hand on his shoulder and he stopped pacing. "We brought him back and that's what counts."

Shiro let out a deep breath, "It doesn't change what happened to him."

Lance could no longer remain hidden. It all wasn't making much sense to him.

"What are you talking about?" Lance stepped out from his hiding place, revealing his presence.

Allura and Shiro were both alarmed at Lance's sudden appearance.

"What do you know that I don't?" Lance inquired.

Shiro and Allura looked to one another and silent agreed to tell him. There was no point in hiding it when Lance had obviously been listening in on their conversation for quite some time.

"Well?" Lance stared at the two of them, trying to coax out an answer.

"Lance, before we explain you need to understand that this was no one's fault," Shiro hesitated for a moment before continuing, "When I was almost out of the tunnels with Keith, he stopped breathing. I got him out to Allura and Coran, but his heart had stopped."

The information that Shiro just confessed was not a small secret like he 'ate the last cookie'—no, not at all. This was a bombshell. Lance was no fool. He knew that if someone's heart stopped beating it meant they were dead. What Allura had been saying about bringing Keith back suddenly made more sense.

"He died and you didn't tell any of us!" Lance suddenly yelled.

"I understand that this is a lot to take in, but please listen to us," Allura stepped in. "We managed to restart his heart. And as you have already seen, he is alive and well. We didn't want anyone to worry."

Lance was angry at first, but the expression melted away to horror as he made his own deductions.

"It's my fault." He whispered. Neither Allura nor Shiro could hear what Lance had said, but they made their own conclusions.

"Lance please-" Shiro never got to finish.

"No. I get it. See you at training." Lance snapped and walked out.

Allura and Shiro looked to one another. They both silently agreed that they had just created a mess they couldn't clean up.

Shiro tried to look for Lance, but he remained hidden away from every one. Allura suggested that they continue with the training to see how it turns out. Shiro was reluctant at first, but agreed.

Soon all the paladins were all suited up and they made their way to the training deck. Keith was the first one there and waiting. Allura and Coran stayed up in the spectator's area, waiting to see if the paladins were ready.

"Before we start, is everyone sure that they're ready to do this?" Shiro asked.

"Let's just get this over and done with." Lance replied bitterly as his bayard shifted into its blaster form.

Shiro made a mental note of talking to him after the training was finished. Shiro looked up to Allura and Coran in the spectator pit and nodded. Allura accepted the signal and activated the gladiator.

To begin with, everything was going well. They had done the drill many times before and it became second nature to them. They fought together and as a team.

But then it all fell a part in a single instant when the gladiator began charging at the closest target to it, Keith.

Keith felt more than ready to take the gladiator head on, but suddenly it was like he couldn't move. What he saw was no longer the gladiator, it was a monster, but not any random monster, it had been the creature, the Baluke.

It wasn't that he was exactly scared, but alarmed him enough for him to lose his focus.

"Keith, look out!" Pidge shouted.

But the warning came too late. Keith took a direct hit. Once the gladiator's staff slammed into Keith, it sent him flying half way across the training deck floor. Keith was skidding and tumbling against the ground. When he finally stopped tumbling, he briefly blacked out, lying on the ground in pain.

Lance took one look and everything rushed back. All he could think about is what Shiro said. And all he could suddenly envision was Keith dying, about to be eaten by the Baluke. Lance became overwhelmed with a white-hot rage. And it was like his mind shut down and went on auto-pilot.

He could feel himself squeezing the trigger of his blaster repeatedly and dodging the gladiator's advances at the attempt of attacking him, but all caution had been cast out of him. He had one goal and that was to destroy the gladiator. Lance heard people yelling, but he ignored it. Lance only came back to his senses when two firm hands had grabbed on to him.

"Lance, it's over!" It was Shiro. "You can stop!"

He shot his head toward Shiro, panting as his arms trembled from adrenaline. Lance felt how his hands were still stiffly holding his blaster. He looked down at what he had been aiming at and he gasped. The gladiator below him had not just been destroyed, it had been obliterated it into many little pieces. By the looks of it, once he started shooting at it, he never stopped until Shiro intervened.

Lance began to lower his blaster. Shiro slowly let go, but he his hands hovered nearby, prepared if he had to stop Lance once again. Lance turned his head to look behind them. Hunk and Pidge were by Keith's side with Hunk helping Keith to sit up.

Pidge and Hunk both stared at Lance with the smallest inkling of fear, but most of all, concern. Lance looked away and up to Allura and Coran up in the spectator deck. They had the same expression as Pidge and Hunk. Lance looked back down once again and Keith's eyes met his. Keith's expression carried more shock than anything else. Keith was alive and he had to keep reminding himself that.

What did I just do?

Lance marched straight out of the room. Shiro raised his arm about to stop him, but he suddenly heard the conversation behind him.

"Are you okay?" Hunk had asked.

There was no reply. Keith continued to stare blankly forward.

"Keith?" Pidge waved a hand in front of his face. He blinked once, but that wasn't much of a response. Before anyone could attempt to gain back Keith's attention, his head lulled against Hunk.

Shiro was over in an instant.

"Keith, hey!" Shiro checked his pulse. There was still a heartbeat.

Allura and Coran were down in a matter of moments.

"Move!" Coran ordered.

They instantly moved out of the way to let Coran check on him. Pidge absent-mindedly grabbed on to Shiro's robotic arm and squeezed it during the agonizing silence as Coran checked over Keith.

"There's nothing to worry about here," Coran reassured. "It's just a case of a mild fainting spell."

The tension that had been built in the room was suddenly released.

"Hunk, do you mind helping me to carry Keith back to his room?" Coran asked. "It's better to place him somewhere more comfortable."

"Sure." Hunk nodded. The two ended up carrying Keith out of the room, but not before Hunk looked back at Pidge with worried eyes. Once they were gone, Pidge finally spoke up.

"I'm going to find Lance."

Pidge jogged out of the room. A part of her was glad that she didn't have to remain in the room with tension growing between Shiro and Allura.

Allura sighed in shame.

"I should have listened to you. We should not have held this training today."

Shiro shook his head.

"You couldn't have known."

Shiro stared off at the door wondering how he could help Keith and Lance.

"Lance?"

He didn't respond to her. Lance instead kept his arms wrapped around his legs and he continued to stare out toward the stars.

Pidge didn't want to make the mistake of asking if he was okay when she knew he wasn't. Instead she sat down beside him and stared out into the stars.

"They sure are beautiful." Pidge commented, trying to get Lance to talk. Normally he would make some lame remark like 'yeah, but not as beautiful as me' or something like that. But all she got was more silence.

"After you left Keith passed out," Pidge tried to cajole a response out of him. His eyes widened slightly, but that's all she got so she continued, "He's okay. But I am more worried about what happened to you."

Lance finally responded and he shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it. Pidge understood and stopped pushing at the subject.

Pidge didn't know what she could say to comfort him, so she decided to let her actions speak for her. She slowly leant her head against him in silence. It was something she would casually do with her brother, Matt, whenever he was upset or when she was just tired.

Lance couldn't help it, but his eyes began to water. It took everything within to hold his tears back. He refused to cry, not in front of Pidge at least. Lance stiffly wrapped one arm around Pidge, pulling her closer to him in a one-armed hug. It was something he did to his younger sisters often and Pidge was practically like a sister anyway so it felt no different.

"Thanks Pidge." Lance mumbled. Pidge heard the slight crack in his voice.

Holding back his tears once more, Lance faintly tightened his hold around Pidge. He was glad she was there and not pestering him for answers. After that, Pidge continued to sit by him and the two remained in a comforting silence.

It had to have been only an hour later that Keith finally woke up. As soon as he woke up he realised that he must have passed out after the failed training. A part of him wished that he could forget that training session. But if there was anything good that came from it, he found himself remembering a few more shards of memories that involved the creature. They didn't make much sense, but that was due to the fact that he wasn't remembering in chronological order. If anything, his memories burdened him with more questions and confusion from before.

Sitting up, Keith noticed that no one was in the room. He had to admit that he was a little surprised at that fact. The more Keith moved around, the more he could feel bruises forming all over his body, but it was nothing serious. If it hadn't been for his armour it would have been more serious. At least he came to that conclusion by the fact he wasn't in the healing pod once again.

Keith glanced down at his clothes. He was changed back into his civilian clothes and his armour was sitting in the corner of his room.

He didn't quite understand what had happened to him during the training. If anything he was embarrassed with himself. He wanted to prove himself and he ended up freezing up and fainting. He never felt more pathetic. He remembered how the gladiator suddenly looked like the creature. It wasn't that he could remember, but he felt something inside him like fear, but it's not like he would ever admit to that.

His thoughts went back to Lance during their training. He had never seen Lance fight so ferociously. It was almost frightening. It was like looking at an entire different person. It was clear to Keith that while Lance was avoiding him, he was hiding how he felt and it was coming out in his viciousness. Keith wanted to know what it was because he knew it involved him.

"Keith! You're awake!"

Looking up he snapped away from his thoughts. Keith realised that it was Pidge and she had also changed back into her civilian clothes.

"I was just coming to check on you. Are you feeling okay? Do you remember what happened?" Pidge asked.

Keith flung his legs over the side of his bed. He decided that he had no time for Pidge's questions.

"Where's Lance?"

Pidge was surprised at the sudden question and then she looked hesitant.

"I was with on the observation deck with him not too long ago, but-"

Before Pidge had a chance to finish, Keith was out the door and gone. Pidge was about to try and stop Keith, but then she decided that maybe it was best for them two to talk.

Lance had insisted he would be okay and he had urged Pidge to go. She didn't object and left with a small nod. She knew that Keith wasn't the only one left with the trauma of what happened, Lance was as well and he remembered everything. She couldn't get Lance to open up, but something told her that Keith would.

Lance was just strolling around the hall near the observation deck when he suddenly found himself pinned to the wall. Not only did Keith manage to sneak up on him, but he also caught him off guard. He was surprised that he was awake, but he hid it well.

"Well hello to you too, Keith." Lance mockingly greeted.

Keith's blood was boiling. He did not want to deal with Lance's sarcasm. He let Lance go, but they still remained almost uncomfortably close.

"I want answers." Keith got straight into it.

"What makes you think I have them?" Lance remarked with an obvious use of sarcasm.

"What happened at training?" Keith ignored the sarcasm and he delved straight into what he wanted.

Lance sighed and he tried to lie, "I don't know."

Keith could see right through it.

"I'm not playing this game with you. Whatever it is, you need to either tell me or get over it!" Keith snapped. "You're being-"

"Pathetic? Is that were you going to say?" Lance interrupted, stepping away from him. Keith would have been confused at Lance's sudden word guess, but he was too blinded by his anger.

"I was going to say something completely different all together, but that word seems pretty suited to you right now." Keith spat. It wasn't what he wanted to say that, but his growing fury blinded him.

"Yeah, that's me, Lance, the paladin that can't do anything right!" Lance shouted.

Keith felt a small portion of his anger dissipate at the sudden proclamation. Keith knew that it was slightly out of place. It was an odd thing to say during the argument, even for Lance.

"What is going on with you!?" Keith began to raise his voice once more. "You have been avoiding me ever since I got out of the pod! You won't even look me in the eye!"

Lance forced himself to look Keith in the eyes to despite one of Keith's previous comments. However, he couldn't hold it for long.

"At first I thought you were mad at me, but after what happened at training that doesn't make sense!" Keith remained angered, but his voice softened slightly. "What aren't you telling me? What happened in the tunnels to make you like this? Was it something I said? Was it something I did? Or are just acting like this because you can?" Keith didn't sound angry when he asked this. It was a genuine question and Lance found himself unable to answer.

"We are not talking about this right now!" Lance attempted to turn and leave, but Keith grabbed his forearm and he did not let go.

"Yes, we are!" Keith yelled. "Just tell me why!"

Lance used all his force to tug his arm out of Keith's grip.

"Why do you keep pushing it!?" Lance screamed. "Would it really just be so hard just to forget about it!?"

"I want to know!" Keith snapped back. "Why don't you just tell me!?"

"Well maybe I'm just a coward." Lance forced a cynical smirk and Keith saw right through it.

"You're not a coward," Keith argued, "I don't need you to try and keep this from me! If you're not angry, that leaves only one other thing. And I don't need you to protect me! I can take care of myself!"

Keith turned around and stormed off. He had enough of it. He knew he wasn't going to get answers and he decided to leave before he could punch Lance in the face. Lance refused to let Keith have the last word so he yelled after him before he had a chance to leave.

"I think that's pretty rich coming from you!"

Keith grunted aloud in response as he continued to storm out. Keith desperately needed to punch something. Keith headed for his room, grabbing his bayard before heading toward the training deck.

He did not care about what happened last time he tried to train. He needed to do this for himself. He needed to prove to himself that he was fine and he could deal with it. After he closed the door's Keith heatedly pulled his jacket off.

"Start level three!" Keith barked, tossing his jacket into the corner of the room and activating his bayard.

Keith was fuelled by pure rage. He went full-force toward the gladiator with no hesitation or concern if he got hurt. Every time his sword collided with the gladiator's weapon, all he could was envision Lance's face on the gladiator. It just added more gasoline to the flames of his anger.

Stupid Lance. We wouldn't be having this issue if he just talked to me. Ugh! I have had enough of this! In the midst of his thoughts his form was getting sloppier.

The gladiator finally caught Keith off guard and it slammed into him. Keith was knocked to the ground and rolled a few feet away. Before Keith had a chance to react to the pain of the hit, the gladiator continued to come toward him.

Jumping to his feet, he had no choice but to clear his mind in order to be able to fight. Once all his attention was on fighting, everything else melted away and his focus was all on the gladiator.

Keith was doing perfectly fine, but just when he thought he could do it probably without being blinded by his anger it all went downhill.

The gladiator ran full force toward him and Keith's mind decided right then and there to play the same trick once again of seeing the creature. His body froze without his consent, but he was lucky that he still could speak.

"End training sequence!"

The gladiator immediately shut off. Once the system took the gladiator away from the training deck, Keith slowly regained feeling back in his body. Keith let out a scream of frustration, throwing his bayard half way across the room.

Fear wasn't a foreign concept to him, but he hated it. Feeling fear made him feel weak and out of control. He didn't want to feel so scared of something he didn't remember, but it was something out of his hands and he hated it.

A part of him knew that Lance was only trying to shield him from this fear and confusion, but it didn't make him any less upset with himself.

Keith dropped to the ground on to his knees, burying his face in his hands in pure frustration and dismay.

Pidge had informed him, along with the others that Keith was awake but no one knew where he went. But Shiro did know was that Lance was back in his room getting changed out of his armour. He decided to see Lance first.

Shiro knocked on Lance's bedroom door.

"Lance? I know you're in there. Can I come in?"

It was a moment before Lance opened the door from the inside, letting Shiro in. Lance finished properly pulling down his shirt, getting back into his casual clothing. Shiro leant against the wall as Lance sat on his bed.

"We need to talk about what happened at training."

Lance almost scoffed. Shiro was directly to the point, just like Keith.

"What about it?" Lance wasn't trying to be sarcastic, but it still sounded like it.

"You know what," Shiro made his way next to Lance. "When you saw Keith get hurt, everything just came rushing back, am I right?"

Lance blinked up at him. Shiro took this opportunity to seat himself next to Lance.

"I get that sometimes too when I see something to do with the Galra. I get flashbacks. Not pleasant ones, I might add," Shiro explained. "And after what I told you this morning it didn't help, did it?"

"Keith died because of me," Lance had to swallow the lump in his throat. "How am I supposed to live with that?" Lance's question sounded more like a plea for help than anything else.

"For starters, dwelling on it is not going to help. Keith's alive, that's the reality of the here and now. And you have to know and accept that it's not your fault," Shiro replied. "We didn't tell you because we knew that it would have been more trouble than it was worth. But Allura and I are sorry for keeping this from you." Shiro's apology was sincere.

Lance turned his head toward Shiro with an unsure expression. His silence made a clear message.

"It was the creature that did this, not you. Please believe that because that's what it is the truth." Shiro said.

Lance wanted to believe, but he just couldn't. It didn't change what happened. Keith still sacrificed himself and it got him killed as a result. They might have been able to revive him, but Keith still died. And that fact troubled him.

"If anything has come out of this, it's that keeping things from each other on this team will only tear us a part. You should talk to Keith." Shiro was suggesting or asking. It was a gentle demand.

Lance was silent for a good moment before he replied.

"Next I see him, I'll try," Lance said truthfully. "But I did just talk to him and it didn't go so well."

Shiro placed his human hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Alright. Well, I'm going to have a talk with him now about it all," Shiro stood up. "And for what it is worth, I'm proud of you."

Lance couldn't help but crack a smile from hearing that.

"Thanks Shiro."

Shiro smiled back and left the room looking for Keith. He had one talk down and one to go. He had been walking down the hall when he paused at the training deck door. It may have been only the faintest sound, but he heard someone in there.

When Shiro walked in he was not surprised in the slightest that Keith was already trying to train. He didn't activate any training simulations, but he was just practicing his form with his sword.

Keith glanced at Shiro for a moment, but seeing him did not faze him and he continued to practice his form.

"You know, you should probably be resting," Shiro said. Keith ignored him and continued with his slashes in the air. "Keith, you need to know that being not ready doesn't make you weak."

That's what got Keith to stop and finally look over at Shiro.

"I don't want to talk about it." Keith stated with an angry undertone. It was obvious that Keith was not happy.

"You're going to have to," Shiro knew that he had to be sterner with Keith than Lance. "Look, I know what you're going through is tough. You don't remember a lot and your memories tend to show themselves at the worst times, am I right?"

Keith stared at him with a frown. He lowered his sword and let it materialize back into the bayards original dormant state.

"I'm not afraid."

"But it makes you feel scared?" Shiro asked.

"No, I wasn't scared of the creature. I may not be able to remember a lot, but I do remember that. I wasn't scared," Keith explained. "So tell me why I froze out there."

"Because when you remember something all of a sudden it can be confusing and startling," Shiro frowned, he knew what was really bothering Keith. "We know you're not weak, Keith."

Keith tried to conceal his flinch, but Shiro still picked up on it. Keith sighed in defeat.

"I tried to go up against the gladiator by myself again not too long ago, but I couldn't face it. I saw the same thing." Keith confessed.

Whilst Shiro felt a bubble of concern that Keith did that without telling anyone, he let it go just that one time.

"Remember when we first versed the gladiator? I froze and you saved me," Shiro tried to bring his point across. "Did you think that I was weak because I froze?"

Keith immediately shook his head.

"Shiro, no. We went through two very different things."

"I don't think so," Shiro interjected. "I know that the circumstances were different, but the same kind of ordeal stays with you."

"But I just got hurt and poisoned by the venom. How does that compare to being captured and tortured by the Galra for a year?" Keith didn't mean to sound so snappy, but he did.

Shiro's face fell and he looked visibly upset. Keith took one look at Shiro's face and he knew that something was wrong.

"I know you're hiding something," Keith's voice lowed and he looked disappointed. "Just tell me, please. Lance is still hiding things from me and I don't need that from you of all people."

Shiro knew that the opportunity to tell Keith was right in front of him. He had to tell him because Keith deserved to know.

"Keith, back in the tunnels, the truth is that we really did lose you." Shiro confessed.

"What?" Keith's anger melted away into confusion. Did he just hear right? "What do you mean that you lost me?"

"Keith," Shiro paused for a moment with a sigh. "When I was carrying you and we were almost out of the tunnels, you stopped breathing and your heart stopped beating. You died."

"I died?" Keith repeated.

He didn't know how to absorb this new information. He thought hard about it. He didn't survive the ordeal, he had died. But he was brought back. Suddenly a little inkling of a memory slithered it's way back into his mind. He remembered feeling an acceptance for death. That's when Keith realised that he didn't just die; he was prepared to die as well. He honestly did not know if that fact was more surprising or frightening.

"Then how am I alive right now?" Keith asked.

"If Coran and Allura hadn't come prepared for the possibility of it happening, then you would have stayed dead," Shiro's face was the most serious that Keith had ever seen it. "Luck doesn't even come close to explaining it."

Keith finally understood why Shiro had been so reluctant about training that morning. It all started to make some sense. Keith had to take in a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Does anyone else know?" Keith asked, but deep down he already knew the answer to that question.

"Lance overheard when I was discussing it with Allura earlier today." Shiro admitted.

Keith sighed, realising that it was why Lance was so erratic at training. Suddenly his uncharacteristic behaviour made sense. Twice he had saved Lance against the creature and he died as a result. He didn't have to be close with Lance to know that it would have been tearing him up inside.

"I need to talk to him." Keith was almost out of the room, but he paused at the doorway. "Thank you for telling me."

Keith knew that Shiro didn't have to tell him, but he did. He understood why Shiro didn't tell him earlier and Keith was grateful that he had that small piece of obliviousness for a while. Because it wasn't every day that he found out that he had died.

Keith ended up having a bit of a run around the castle trying to find Lance. Keith first checked his room, but he was nowhere to be found. He heard commotion in the kitchen, but after peeking around the corner he found out that it was just Pidge and Hunk.

Hunk appeared to be cooking something whilst Pidge was on a holographic touch-screen.

"Has anyone seen Lance?" Keith approached the two.

Without giving an answer, Hunk just pushed a bowl of a pink sludge into Keith's hands along with what looked like a spoon.

"Keith, mix this please!" Hunk turned back to cutting up, what Keith suspected to be a plant from Zilate.

"I asked him to grab some of the tech I've been working on that's near the hangers on the other side of the castle. He shouldn't be too long," Pidge replied to Keith's question, not looking from her touch screen. "And if you don't want him to avoid you, you should probably just wait here for him. That way he can't evade you and you can talk to him."

Pidge and Hunk wanted for Keith to be able to talk to Lance. After how Pidge saw how upset he was earlier that day, she wanted to do everything she could to help him. When Pidge had told Hunk about the state Lance was in, the two made a pact that if Lance and Keith didn't talk by the end of that day, then they would plot together to make it happen. They knew that only way Lance could get out of his muck was to talk to Keith.

Keith decided to listen to Pidge's suggestion.

"Ok." Keith replied as he stared unsurely at the bowls contents inelegantly began to stir the mixture. Pidge glanced up from her holo-pad and let out a small laugh.

"Keith, is that what you call mixing?" Pidge began to smile.

"I'm distracted by how weird it looks." Keith defended.

"I wasn't making fun of you. Whenever I would bake, my brother would help me out and you kinda mix the bowl like he used to." Pidge continued to smile.

Hunk chimed into the conversation.

"Did your brother mix like an old grandma, Pidge? No offence, Keith."

Keith almost laughed, but he instead continued to listen to Pidge and Hunk as they began to bicker.

"Matt had little to no cooking ability. He was hopeless. And what kind of grandma mixes like that?" Pidge remarked.

"Mine does," Hunk laughed. "But that's because she's old, not because she sucks at cooking like your brother. My grandma is the queen of baking chocolate-brownie cookies. She'd send them to me every once in a while back at the Garrison."

"You're making me miss chocolate," Pidge frowned. "Wait; is this the cookie that Lance was freaking out about around New Year?"

Hunk looked guilty.

"I only had one extra with me and we weren't really friends back then, otherwise I would have offered."

Pidge shook her head at him.

"You have betrayed my trust." Pidge jokingly looked upset with him.

Hunk just laughed.

"Around Christmas time she makes about four batches worth," Hunk explained. "One day when we head back to Earth, I'll make sure to share them with you."

It was while he listened to that conversation that something inside him just clicked. The talk of family all sounded very familiar, but Keith knew that it wasn't Pidge's or Hunk's he could recall hearing about.

When we go back to Earth, the first thing you're doing is coming with me to meet my family.

It was Lance's voice.

The bowl slipped from his hands and Keith watched as it seemingly fell in slow-motion.

His mind suddenly felt like it was fast-forwarding through a film he had seen before. What Pidge and Hunk were talking about became the final push. It was the final connection that he had been missing. His memories slammed back into him all at once. Sounds and emotions were finally attached to images. The final pieces fell into place.

It wasn't that he could remember them clearly, it was like looking back through a cracked lens, but it was enough. It all returned in the correct chronological order. Some of his memories didn't make much sense, but then again, he was in and out of consciousness for the most part due to the blood loss. The last thing he remembered was feeling like someone had lit a fire in his chest before he felt his body become ice cold and he could hear someone's voice calling his name. Keith had no doubt that the final memory was the last memory he retained before he died.

After what felt like an eternity, the bowl finally smashed against the ground, drawing Keith out of his reminiscent state.

Keith ended up gasping for air. He didn't know how he was so air starved, but he must have been holding his breath. He could vaguely hear how Hunk and Pidge were asking if he was okay. As he caught his breath, he ran one hand through his hair.

"I need to find Lance." Keith suddenly said.

"What? Hold up for a second, what just happened?" Hunk frantically asked.

"I remember!" Keith exclaimed.

"What!?" Pidge asked. "How?"

"I don't know exactly, but it just hit me," Keith slowly replied. "I've gotta find Lance. I need to talk to him now."

Keith bolted out of the kitchen and down into the hall. Pidge and Hunk just exchanged a confused glance at one another. They had no idea what just happened. One minute Keith was quiet and the next he suddenly remembered. It was a weird day.

Keith just went running without even watching where he was going. He went to turn the corner but he collided into something and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground with whatever he had collided with being an arm's length away from him.

"What the—Keith?"

It was then that Keith realised that he had collided with Lance.

"Lance!"

Keith immediately grabbed Lance by his wrist and dragged him into the nearest room with a door.

"Wait—Keith, what are you doing!?"

Keith ignored Lance and threw him in and closed the door behind them. They were in the observation deck. Lance placed down Pidge's back from his shoulder and raised his hands half way past his head.

"Do you want to fight or something? Are you still mad about what I said before? Because I'm—"

"I know." Keith cut him off.

Lance blinked at him.

"What?"

"I died and you blame yourself because of it."

Lance's face fell and his face back hardened. He turned away from Keith and took a few steps toward the glass, facing the stars.

"Shiro told you." It was a statement rather than a question. Lance already knew the answer.

Keith nodded, "Yes."

"And obviously he told you that I knew." Lance dug his hands into his pockets. "It's my fault. I'm not going to be surprised if you want payback because of that."

Lance sank down and sat, not looking at Keith and continuing to look out to the stars.

Keith confusedly stared at Lance.

"Why would I want payback? It's not your fault."

"Yes it is." Lance replied.

"No, it's not." Keith began to grow agitated. Lance could hear the growing agitation in Keith's voice.

"It is!"

"It isn't!"

"Why are we even fighting about this?" Lance threw his arms up into the air, turning to look at Keith. "How would you even know!? You don't even remember!"

"Actually I do!" Keith yelled.

Lance's agitated expression disappeared and he stared at Keith with his eyes wide.

"What?"

"You heard me," Keith lowed his voice and his face softened. "I remember."

Lance sighed, looking away from Keith. All of Lance's effort in trying to keep it from Keith had been for nothing because he ended up remembering one day later anyway.

Wow. I really can't do anything right. Lance mentally scoffed at himself.

"When did you remember?" Lance asked, looking back out to the stars.

Keith made his way next to Lance and he sat beside him as he answered the question.

"I've been remembering pieces for a while, but it all came back to me when I was just in the kitchen with Pidge and Hunk. Most of it just rushed back then."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Keith started talking again.

"Listen. My brief death was not your fault and you need to know that and accept it."

Lance slowly nodded in response, but he could still feel guilt looming over him. But it did make him feel marginally better by knowing that Keith didn't blame him even though he could have.

"I'm glad we've cleared that up, but there's still something I don't understand," Keith turned his head toward Lance, "You were avoiding me before Shiro told you that I died. So what else is bothering you?"

Lance finally gained the audacity to look Keith in the eyes. It was the first time he held eye contact with him since they last argued, but this time he managed to hold it down.

"Why did you save me?" Lance decided to clarify the question to be specific, "You shielded me from the creature's stinger and then you decided to play the hero and sacrifice yourself. I want to know why."

Keith stretched out and stared at the ground, thinking carefully about his answer.

"I can't really explain the first time," Keith confessed. "I saw the stinger coming towards you and I just acted on it. All I knew is that I needed to stop the stinger from hurting you. There wasn't time to think."

Lance had to remind himself that Keith was chosen as the red paladin due to his reliance on instinct. He realised that this was an example of why he was chosen. Lance continued to listen carefully.

"And what about the whole sacrifice stunt?" Lance asked.

Keith shifted his position uncomfortably. He knew the answer to that question, but he just wasn't sure if Lance was ready to hear it. However under the circumstance of finally talking to one another that wasn't resulting in an argument, he decided to be truthful.

"I knew I was dying, I could feel it. All I could do was rely on my instincts and they told me that despite what would happen to me, I needed to protect you. I knew what I was doing and I don't regret that decision."

"You have to stop that!" Lance suddenly exclaimed.

Keith flinched, startled at Lance's sudden raise in volume. Keith furrowed his eyebrows.

"Doing what?"

"Talking like that!" Lance explained. "You're talking like you have a death wish,"

"It's not that I don't value my life or that I have nothing to lose, it's just that I have less to lose," Keith explained himself, "You have a family. You have people that you love who are waiting for you back on Earth. I wasn't just going to let you get hurt and die. You have too much to lose. And I….I don't."

Lance stared at Keith and sighed. He understood. Behind Keith's tone there was the slightest tone of envy. The roles had been reversed. He had always envious of Keith, but in that moment the tables had been turned. Lance lowered his voice and he became more serious than before.

"Just because I have my family waiting for me it doesn't make your life any less than mine."

"That's not how I see it," Keith said it with such resolve that it was almost frightening.

Lance sighed.

"I thought all you cared about is Voltron and saving the universe," Lance attempted to coax an answer. "Why am I so important all of a sudden?"

Keith raised his eyebrows at Lance.

"That's a stupid question," Keith replied. "Last time I checked, you're a part of Voltron and the universe."

Lance almost laughed.

"I don't know whether to take that as a joke or not."

"I'm being serious," Keith's expression was deadpanned. "You are the blue paladin. You have an affinity for blasters along with a quick wit. You have strategic mind of a true fighter pilot. And we wouldn't be able to form Voltron without you because you are essential to this team."

Lance was speechless. It was more the sincerity of Keith's tone that really got to him. Not that Lance would ever admit to it, but he really did admire Keith, and hearing something like that from someone he admired, well, words could not explain the surprise or the odd feeling of content welling within him. It's not that his own doubts about his abilities completely vanished, but any negative thought in that moment disappeared.

"And what, you're just replaceable?" Lance countered back.

Keith shook his head.

"I'm not saying that. It's just like I said before, I have less to lose."

"And just like I said before, you have to stop talking like that, or at least stop thinking like that," Lance nudged Keith with shoulder, "Do you think we'd be able to form Voltron without you piloting red? Because I don't think so, Mr Broody-Pants,"

Keith crinkled his nose in disgust at the new nickname. He slowly turned his head to face Lance. The same expression of disgust was still plastered on his face.

"Mr Broody-Pants, really? I didn't know that your name calling could get any lamer, but you always seem to prove me wrong."

"I guess proving you wrong is what I do best," Lance started to smirk as Keith rolled his eyes.

"You might want to watch that inflated ego of yours."

"Hey, who just called me a smart and awesome pilot?" Lance mocked.

"You know what, I take it back. You still fly like a cargo pilot." Keith did not hold any bite behind his words, he was just joking.

"That hurts me," Lance faked a hurt expression. "That cuts deep."

"Wasn't it you that said that as a friend that it would make you entitled to make fun of the other?"

Lance let out a snort.

"Actually what I said was that as your friend that I am entitled to make fun of you. I never said anything about you, Mullet." Lance remarked.

The two boys collapsed into small chuckles of laughter at one another. Lance hardly ever heard Keith laugh. The laugh itself wasn't too special, but it was Keith's infectious smile that really stood out. It was something that Lance actually found himself wanting to see more of (not that he would admit that).

When the laughter calmed down, Lance found himself still smiling, but also becoming quite serious again.

"I hope you know that I meant what I said back in those tunnels," Lance glanced back over to Keith. "When we get back to Earth, you're coming with me to see my family."

Keith recalled the promise, but he honestly didn't think that Lance would remember. Keith assumed it was one of those 'in the heat of the moment' types of decisions. He didn't want Lance to feel obliged to do it.

"Lance, you don't have to-"

"I know that I don't have to," Lance interrupted. "I want to."

Keith couldn't stop a lopsided grin from appearing on his face.

"Besides," Lance continued. "I think they'll want to meet the person that has saved my life multiple times."

Keith let out a breath and smiled.

"Ok. I can't argue you with." Keith gave in once again and decided to accept Lance's offer.

"Who knows, I may even get even with you and be the one to save your sorry behind."

Keith rolled his eyes, letting out a small huff of laughter. Lance's smile gradually vanished and he grew serious once more.

"Just promise me one thing," Lance got Keith's undivided attention. "Please just….just…."

Lance did not know how to word it properly; he had to think about it for a moment. Lance looked him dead in the eye and he spoke his mind.

"Keith, to everyone here, you mean something. You may not have a family back on Earth, but you have one up here."

Normally Lance would have felt embarrassed with such a confession, but with Keith gaping at him, he felt himself telling more and more of what he felt was the truth.

"We're all a team up here," Lance proclaimed. "And this team is a lot like a family. So please, don't act like your life is worth less than ours."

Keith stared at Lance, in fact, he didn't even blink. Keith just stared at his like he was frozen. Lance was getting worried for a moment, but then Keith began to open his mouth. He was about to say something, but he just closed his mouth as soon as he opened it.

Lance McClain had just left Keith Kogane speechless. It was something he never thought he'd ever do, but it happened anyway. Keith slowly and eventually just nodded in response. There was nothing he could think to say to that. Keith wanted to say something with gratitude, but he thought that it wouldn't be the appropriate response.

Keith cared about everyone in the castle, but it wasn't until hearing what Lance said that he realised that he did consider them family. Keith didn't know what it was like to have a family until Lance had just confirmed it for him. He cared about them and their happiness, even above his own, and that was how people felt for family, right?

Shiro was his family. Allura was his family. Coran was his family. Pidge was his family. Hunk was his family. Lance was his family.

It was bond over blood. His friends were his family. He couldn't answer Lance about how he instinctually protected him from the creature's stinger, but then in that moment he just knew. Keith knew that people would go to great extremes to protect their families, even with their own lives. But never once did he consider that he had protected Lance because of that reason until then.

"Keith? You're kinda freaking me out there, buddy."

"I understand." Keith mumbled the reply. Lance didn't quite catch the reply, but at least Keith was still functioning.

Lance stood up, cracking his back and stretching.

"Okay. I'm glad we had this talk, but I think there's been enough sitting for one day. I'm going to deliver Pidge's tech."

Lance grabbed the bag and started to walk away with his free hand resting on his hip. As Lance walked away Keith stood up from the floor. He stared out through the glass of the ship. The stars looked especially bright all of a sudden.

Lance paused near the door way, turning his head back to Keith.

"Are you coming, or what?"

Keith wordlessly took up the offer and caught up to Lance. The two sauntered down the hall side by side together in a comfortable silence.

There was no doubt that they had their differences. Their personalities were like fire and ice. But in that moment, there was only peace between them. Would that peace last forever? Probably not. But what truly was remarkable was that the two finally understood each other better and they had a great respect for one another.

And maybe, just maybe, it was the beginning of something new.

The End...for now.

I plan on making some more one-shot and story installments that follow the events of this story that will begin to develop Lance and Keith together.

Any comments or questions, comment below and let me know!

I'll see you guys next time.