#alluraedit

Allura regarded him, and then took a slow step forward. She placed her hands on his shoulders and gave his leaner frame a slight squeeze. "Thank you for sharing, Keith," she said gently, pacing her words. "And you're right. We are Voltron, and we are a family. We will not leave anyone behind..." She frowned a little at the weight of her words and their uncomfortable, unfortunate truth. "But that does not mean we can save everyone. But we must try, anyway, and you're good at that, aren't you? At trying?"

His voice wobbled. "I'm tired."

Something in her splintered. They were just kids, after all. Keith was eighteen at the oldest, and they'd been dragged into a war. She'd asked for them to be soldiers and they'd lost Shiro for it. "I know," she said, attempting to steady her voice. "I wish I could promise that things will be okay, but—"

"Shiro was tired too, all the time." Keith was crying now. "I could see it, even when he didn't want me to. He wanted me to be Black Paladin, I think, because I got you back safe from Alpha-Traz. Because he didn't want to put anything else on your shoulders." He looked up at her, tears fading. "I know you're tired too."

Her throat burned. "We all are," Allura said softly.