A/N:

I wrote this for my favorite sharpshooter's birthday (even though I'm technically writing it in the early hours of the day after his birthday) so happy late birthday, Lance! While I was writing this, I forgot that Sam brought recordings to the paladins' families… Well, in this world, Sam never made it to them because of… I don't know, something. Just go with it!

P.S. It is 3am and I am exhausted but my brain won't let me sleep because it made itself too sad. So enjoy my 3am sad-brain story!

"Mamá? Mamá, where are you?" Veronica called through the quiet house. She hated seeing her childhood home so quiet. When she was little, it was always noisy, but ever since her youngest brother disappeared, no one could bear to be in the house for too long. Old memories flashed by her eyes, letting her relive all of the messes and all of the noise that she missed. All of her favorite memories came flooding back. Memories of when the house was flooded with music and laughing and happiness.

"Upstairs," called her mother weakly. Veronica ascended the steps, involuntarily stepping over the creaky steps, like she had every day for years. Upon reaching the top, she flicked the light switch to find her mother sitting on the carpet with her back to a closed door.

"Oh, Mamá…" she whispered, kneeling next to her.

"His birthday is next week…" The tone of her mother's voice made Veronica's heart sink.

"He was supposed to be eighteen…"

"He will be eighteen," her mother snapped.

"Mamá, it's been well over a year," Veronica said, wiping a tear from her mother's eye. "I think it's time we-"

"Forget him?!"

"No, Mamá! I think we should acknowledge him. We have to realize that… that he's gone." A fresh round of sobs broke out of the distraught woman.

"Maybe…" she started, then sniffled loudly. "Maybe you're right…"

"Marco and Luis and I have started to plan a proper memorial. They're going to be here tomorrow to finish the plans."

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. We're going to have it on his birthday, right here in the house. It's just going to be family and close friends, but it'll be really nice."

Silence settled over them, lasting quite a while. Suddenly, it was broken by a quiet "Okay…" Veronica nodded, then helped her mother to he bed.

"It's late, Mamá. You need to get some sleep."

The day of the memorial, all of the McClain family gathered in the house. Veronica watched as family members shared their favorite memories of Lance.

"Do you remember when he tried to make a milkshake for the first time?"

"Once he tried to convince me to shave the neighbor's cat!"

"Did he really hide a dog in his room for a week?"

Veronica smiled sadly, but the memorial felt wrong, like it was too final. There was no body to bury, since the Galaxy Garrison 'couldn't recover it', but the gathering still felt like a funeral.

Pictures of Lance decorated the living room, and his favorite music played in the background. Veronica walked over to the makeshift shrine that they'd put together and gently lifted a framed photo from her youth. Lance, then only six, was invested in a splash battle with his older brothers. The three in the picture stood in the shallows of the ocean, but they were soaked from head to toe.

"I won, you know," said a voice behind her. She turned to see her brother Marco striding up to her.

"You might have won, but our little brother put up one hell of a fight."

"Yeah, he did… When he finally beat me a few years later, he declared himself the king of the ocean." Veronica laughed. That sounded exactly like Lance. "Luis and I lifted him up onto our shoulders and paraded him across the beach…"

"I wish I could have seen it…" Just then, Lance's favorite song began to play. Brother and sister fell silent as the first few chords played. Soon, the whole house was quiet. This song was his favorite, and everyone knew it. He always sang along to it, he hummed it when he was sad, and he even played it on his guitar. Once, he sang it over a video chat from the Garrison. The words filled the air, but everyone only heard them in Lance's voice.

Remember me.
Though I have to say goodbye,
Remember me.
Don't let it make you cry.
For even if I'm far away, I hold you in my heart.
I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart.

The image of Lance strumming a guitar and softly singing this song wormed its way into Veronica's mind. She missed his voice. She missed his happiness. She missed his jokes and his smiles and his laughs. She didn't realize that she was crying until a fat tear dropped onto her folded arms. When the second verse started, someone started singing along.

"Remember me
Though I have to travel far
Remember me
Each time you hear a sad guitar
Know that I'm with you the only way that I can be
Until you're in my arms again
Remember me…" the voice sang.

Veronica, Marco, and the rest of the family slowly turned to stare at the opened front door. He wore white and blue armor, his hair was longer, and his ocean blue eyes seemed tired and shadowed, but his smile… It was the same smile in all off the pictures around the room.

"Am I late?" asked Lance. His mother was the first to recover from the shock, and she ran to envelop him in a tight hug. The rest of the McClains followed suit, each hugging the boy they thought had died in the desert.

"Where have you been, mijo?" their mother asked.

"It's a really long story, Mamá…" Lance said with a chuckle. "But I know just where to begin." With that, he turned to the door and waved several people inside, each wearing similar armor with different colors. "These are my friends. You all remember Hunk, but this is Pidge, Keith, Shiro, Allura, and Coran," he announced, gesturing to each person in turn. "We save the universe together."

"I'm so proud of you, mijo!" his mother yelled, wrapping her arms around him again. In that time, Hunk had slipped out.

"I can't breathe, Mamá!" Lance gasped, earning laughter from just about everyone there.

"I'm sorry, mijo…" she responded. " After all this time, I'm just so glad that you're home."

"Well, now that that's all settled, there's one other matter of business," Pidge interjected with a sly grin. Lance, confused, turned back to the door, where Hunk had returned with a cake that read 'Happy birthday, Lance!' in blue frosting. Eighteen candles glowed on top.

"Happy birthday!" Everyone shouted. Lance looked like he was about to cry.

"Where did you get a cake?" he muttered between hiccups.

"I called my moms before we visited them and asked them to make it as a surprise," Hunk answered Hunk. "They were more than happy."

"Don't forget to make a wish, birthday boy!" Marco said.

Tears in his eyes, Lance looked from his space family to his real family, then back again. "What more could I wish for…" Everyone smiled fondly. "There's cake!" Lance yelled jokingly, throwing his arms into the air.

"That's my brother…" Veronica muttered with a smile as Lance blew out his candles.

A/N:

Not bad for *checks clock* 3:42am if I do say so myself… Now it's time for me to pass out and wake up tomorrow morning to do this all again. That's life, tho...

The song in the story is 'Remember Me' from Coco because I just watched that movie and the song is stuck in my head and I can imagine Lance singing it and dear god I would love to hear that in real life!

If you liked my tired-and-sad-brain's story, please let me know. NOW IS TIME FOR SLEEP!

Until next time…

-Ash