Disclaimer: Yeah, don't own Voltron. This is it everyone! Final chapter at last! Hope you enjoy!

~Beyond the Stars~

As luck would have it, Hunk's mother was one of the last parents to arrive. As Maria began closing up the pool, both boys immediately offered to help.

"Least we can do after you covered for us with Nick..." Lance offered, shyly scratching the back of his head.

Yeah, his sister had been in on the plan. Purposely guiding the other boys away from the machine's hiding place deep within the shed. Hunk and Lance had dismantled some of it, before covering the rest with a sheet. Quickly, the pair then relocked the door and snuck back to the pool area. Since Maria had been clued in from the start, she was able to keep the bullies occupied long enough for them to get everything done.

Lovingly, Maria reached out and ruffled Lance's hair. "Eh, no prob little bro. That brat and his friends have been thorns in my side for far too long. Felt good pulling one over on them."

At long last, Hunk's mom had finally arrived and pulled into the parking lot.

"Mommy!" the boy cried and ran happily into her open, waiting arms. "I did it! I made a friend today!"

"You did? Honey, I'm so proud of you!"

When the warm family moment had passed, Maria and Lance introduced themselves. And Lance, being well... Lance, pleaded with Hunk's mom to let him sleepover that night.

"Well... I don't know," the woman said uncertainly. The boys had only known each other a day after all.

"Please!" Lance begged, his blue eyes growing incredibly wide. "Summer's almost over Mrs. Garrett! This could be our only chance before school starts!"

The older woman's heart practically melted. How could she say, "no" to that? "Alright, but I want to check with your mother first that it's okay."

"Woot!"

"Sweet!" Both boys cheered, sharing in a short victory dance. Mrs. Garrett then followed Maria's car back to their home. Needless to say, the two women hit it off just as well as Lance and Hunk did.

From that day forward, the pair became almost inseparable. Hunk would remember that summer night the rest of his life. Baking brownies from scratch with Lance's mom. Boy were they incredible! Warm, soft, and super gooey... The picture of the three of them covered in flour was one that they all still treasured. Binging on soda pop and popcorn. Marathoning the entire "Space Patrol" series. Chatting about everything under the sun, or rather... the stars.

Turns out, that Lance was obsessed with all things related to space. He was an absolute fanatic. Star "Wars" and "Trek" posters were plastered around his room. Books on space travel and astronomy littered the floor. Even the walls were painted to resemble the night sky.

As he climbed into bed, Lance stared up at the glow-in-dark stars hanging above his head and whispered, "One day, Hunk. I'm going up there! Most of my family are already part of the Garrison in some way. And I 'm going to join, too. But I want to do something that the rest of them have never done. I'll be a fighter pilot and protect people; just you wait and see!"

Little did Hunk know, the kind of path their friendship had already set him upon. Space, to him meant: Fear, death, and darkness. Certainly, never a place Hunk wished to visit, let alone to live and work in.

But if that's where Lance was going, then Hunk was determined to follow. They may have only known each other a day... But even so, Hunk could tell, they had something truly special. Throughout his entire life, Hunk had felt... off, unbalanced. He could never quite find the right words to describe, how something important was missing. Almost like Hunk was a giant, shaky leg. Desperately trying to stand on his own, against the cruel world.

And then, suddenly, he wasn't alone anymore. Lance had come and steadied him. Righting him in such a way that Hunk almost felt whole. Something was still missing, but he knew that together, they'd find it someday.

An awkward pair of misfits that fit perfectly together. That's what they were. For the first time in his life, Hunk felt empowered, strong. Like he could take on any trial the world threw at him. Lance would lift Hunk up when he fell and cheer him up when he cried. Someone who would always have his back. And in return, Hunk would always have his.

So if his best friend's future lay within the stars, then that's where Hunk's was too. Often times, Lance would question why Hunk joined Galaxy Garrison if space travel frightened him so. It was the only secret he had ever kept from Lance. Because he knew, that if the other boy realized why; Lance would dropout of the program in a heartbeat.

No matter how important being a pilot was to him, Hunk's happiness meant far more.

Whatever he had done to deserve such a loving, kind, and loyal friend; Hunk wasn't entirely sure. He wouldn't allow Lance to give up his dream for him. So together to space they'd go.

"The stars were calling him," Lance would say, looking up at the night sky in awe and wonder.

Hunk wasn't entirely sure what kind of future they held, but he knew one thing for certain:

For good or bad...

Through thick and thin...

To infinity and past the great beyond...

Whatever future lay ahead, they'd face it together.

Now... and forever more.

~The End~

Author's Notes: Success! Done! Finally! Well that's it everyone! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. So yeah, a few theories of mine coming in there. That the real reason Hunk joined the Garrison was because of Lance. And that several of Lance's family are part of the Garrison.

Which leads us to the last chunk of my theories revolving around Lance. First off, I want to point out a few things I noticed in the show that led me to develop these. When Allura goes unconscious, before being placed in the pod, the last thing she sees is her father. And then the first thing she sees is Lance.

Now, normally, I wouldn't think it meant anything more than set up the ongoing flirting joke. But as I kept watching I noticed a few more odd things. Like that fact that Alfor's hologram only appeared for Lance before tricking him into the airlock. That in the large group promo pic for Season 2 Alfor's hologram is hovering directly behind Lance waving the flag. And lastly, that Allura's armor has blue accents that are the same color as Lance's.

So, all this leads into some facts that the show creators have voiced in past interviews. That they, "won't go into the team's family backgrounds unless it's connected to the overall story" and that "we will learn more about Lance's family" in Season 2.

What does that all mean? Well, here are my theories: The first one is that several of Lance's family members are in Galaxy Garrison. Which if you look at the clothing in the picture of his family, at least one woman is wearing the uniform. My thoughts are the higher ups are lying about what they know about the intergalactic war. They may even have a deal with Zarkon. And Lance's family will at some point help sneak Team Voltron in and take it down from the inside. I also find it interesting that the one color not present in Voltron; Orange, is the one used to represent the Garrison. Will they also become an enemy?

My other theory is that, Lance's family and a good part of earth's population are indirectly descended from who ever piloted the Blue Lion to earth. Which was an Altean, who was most likely Alfor. 10,000 years is a long time for DNA and genetics to become different enough to become unrecognizable at first glance from it's origin. Which is why the scanners didn't pick it up when they arrived. Some genes might even be dormant and really take a thorough breakdown to be traced and seen. Anyway, I think Lance's family might be direct descendants from Alfor's line. Which is why Lance's quintessence is the same blue as Allura's and why the castle and Blue woke up because of his influence. The sharing of one's life energy with others is a sacred thing to Alteans as Coran had explained on Balmera. And that Allura's powers are special, passed down through the line of her family. Before Alfor died, he may have done the same, which still resonates through Lance's family. I think we are going to find out that Lance has similar powers to Allura. And she will eventually end up teaching him how to control them.

We'd also get a great joke like this:

*Lance cocks his head to the side in thought* "So wait... that means that you're like my Great, Great, Great, Great, Great-"

*Pidge's eye twitches and smacks him up the side of the head.*

*Lance only flinches for a second and keeps going.*

"Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great-"

*Pidge looks at her hand with disdain.* "Huh, normally my 'Lance Reset Button' works..."

"Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great- Grand-Aunt!" * He finally concludes with a puffed chest of pride, before it horrifically dawns on him. * "And, I flirted with you..."

*Lance turns goo colored green and races from the room with his hand covering his mouth*

"I hit on my Great 'etc.' Grand-Aunt! ARFF! MOVE! Gonna hurl!"

*Rest of the team sweatdrops*

So pretty much, Allura and Coran's people still live on in some form within the population of Earth. Giving them even more of a reason to protect it. For it is the only home they have left.

And that's the last one I have right now everybody! Hope you enjoyed it! I'd like to thank everyone who faved and review, you guys are awesome. I'm now going to start planning a short sequel to my Naruto series and I might post another short Voltron one-shot in the mean time.

And as always, please remember to read fav and review! Feed the fan fic muse! Thanks again!