#brii writes

Being the Black Paladin was exhausting.

Black didn’t listen to Keith in the way that Red did, Black only allowed him what was necessary. And in some ways, it was a relief. He felt that if he ever unlocked those powers, it’d mean that Shiro was really gone. That he’d be somewhere beyond their reach, and they’d have to stumble on without him leading them.

Keith needed to fit the role of a Black Paladin. It required patience he didn’t have, conversational skills he didn’t have, and the ability to direct the others in battle, which tended to be on a case-by-case basis.

It’d helped him realize a lot, though it hadn’t helped him improve any. So maybe he spent some extra time fighting the gladiator, maybe he spent time trying to look into diplomacy when Allura wasn’t looking over his shoulder. Maybe he slept less than he should.

It wasn’t much of a surprise when he woke up with a headache after a terrible dream the previous night that left him reeling for the better part of an hour. But it was just a headache, he’d fought through much worse before. Keith got to his feet and stretched, relieving some of the tension in his muscles before heading to the kitchen.

Everyone else was already there, though it didn’t look like they’d been there for long. Keith headed to his usual seat, leaving the one at the end empty. It had gone unspoken between them that that seat was Shiro’s, despite the varying degrees of hope for his return.

“Good morning,” Allura greeted, her tone pleasant. It was impossible to like mornings. Well, no, that was a lie—Keith liked the quiet of the mornings, and being able to watch everything come to life under the sun’s rays back home, but he hated waking up. Either way, he nodded in response and took his seat, glancing around at the others.

Pidge looked up from her computer to nod at him before turning back to her work. Ever since Shiro disappeared, Pidge had thrown herself completely into her work as if a solution or clue would vanish if she didn’t constantly monitor it.

There had been clues. Brief leads that led to nothing, or that horrifying moment when Keith realized they’d been led directly into an ambush. They all nearly died several times, and Pidge nearly ended up in Galra custody after a shot took out the Green Lion.

Needless to say, they didn’t follow those clues anymore. They searched for other evidence instead, a reason to believe that it wasn’t just another trap.

It killed Keith inside. He hated the idea that they might let go of a trail that would’ve actually led to finding Shiro, he hated the idea of not acting. They needed to do something or else Keith would go insane. He was horrible at plans and strategy—he often left that to Allura and Lance, pitching in whenever necessary but otherwise letting them direct the planning.

When everything inevitably fell apart, however, Keith knew exactly what to do. And maybe it was strange, but he grew to look forward to those moments. The times when he actually knew what he was doing, when he was so hyperfocused on his surroundings that he didn’t have time to think about anything else. His mind would remain blissfully blank until he came down from the post-victory adrenaline high, and then everything came crashing down, leaving him scrambling again.

So maybe he was stressed. Maybe he should’ve slept more, but after a particularly harsh battle sleep never came easy. His dreams had been plagued with the idea of what might’ve happened if Keith hadn’t been able to cover Lance when his shield shattered and he fell—down and down and Keith could almost—

“Keith,” a voice said quietly. Keith started, staring wide-eyed at the speaker. Hunk, it was just Hunk. “You feeling okay?” Hunk asked. “You’re kinda bending the spoon a bit.”

Spoon? Keith looked down at the table, a bent spoon gripped tightly in lightly trembling hands. Oh. “Oh,” he murmured. “I’m… just a nightmare. I’m fine.”

Hunk nodded, not pressing any further, and Keith was grateful for that. “Take it easy,” he warned. In hindsight, Keith probably should’ve listened. But they’d barely finished their breakfast when the alarm went off, highlighting everything in red as the siren blared. The paladins ran out of the hall, quickly changing into their armor and taking the ziplines down to their lions.

They’d been found, despite Allura’s best efforts to find them a safe place to hide out for a few days. The Galra were relentless. They fought dirty, using anything and everything at their disposal no matter who they hurt. Victory or death was their motto, after all, and it seemed even the Galra that fought against Zarkon still employed that mentality. Victory or death. Knowledge or death. What did it matter? They usually ended up dead either way.

When had Keith started thinking like that? He had no idea, and that scared him more than anything else.

One by one the lions exited their hangars, quickly shifting into formation as each paladin surveyed their field of vision.

“Pidge, Hunk, you two take the left side,” Allura said. “Lance and I are on the right. Keith, you’re to provide support where necessary. There’s too many of them for us to form Voltron.” As everyone split, Keith couldn’t help but feel that he’d been taken out of the fight for a reason. Logically, he knew he wasn’t out of the fight. Support was just as important as the front lines, but he hated sitting on the sidelines while others fought at the front—especially those close to him.

Regardless, he kept up his role. He fired from the sky, but the Black Lion sapped at his energy like a black void, sucking and pulling everything until nothing was left. Keith grimaced, breathing in harsh pants even though he hadn’t done much. Why was he so exhausted? He’d been fine on less sleep before. His head pounded, another effect of the late night.

“Keith, your nine!” The Black Lion swerved to avoid a stray laser shot, and Keith narrowed his eyes before diving into the fray with renewed vigor. Shiro wouldn’t want him to give up, so he couldn’t. Not in the heat of battle, when everyone was depending on him to have his shit together.

“Thanks, Lance!” He shot past the Red Lion, jaw blade already forming as he sliced through a crowd of fighters.

“Keith, what are you doing?” Pidge snapped, irritation clear in her tone. Keith didn’t answer her, pushing forward more on the levers to gain more speed. The Black Lion growled, tearing through the battlecruiser and watching it explode. He moved onto the next, gripping the controls like a lifeline.

“Keith, you’re splitting up the team!”

And then, quietly…

“…hello?”

The line went silent, before everyone was shouting all at once.

“Shiro!”

“Oh my god, Shiro, where are you?”

“Was that Shiro?”

“Shiro, please answer us!”

“I… yes. I’m here. What’s going on?”

Keith breathed, trying to swallow around the lump in his throat. “Shiro. Do you know where you are?”

“Um… I can see Black.”

Keith shuddered as a chill ran down his spine. He didn’t think that was from Shiro. “Tell me more. Where are you?”

“To your right. There’s like… a window, or something. Near a big hole.”

“I see the hole. I’m heading over to you. Lance, cover me!”

“You got it,” Lance responded.

Keith exited the Black Lion and propelled himself the remaining few feet into the hole, looking around. “Shiro!”

Shiro himself stood at the end of the hall, turning and smiling when he saw Keith. He had his helmet on, but it was the only piece of armor he had. Keith started to run towards Shiro, but a wave of dizziness overtook him. His stomach rebelled, threatening to expel its contents as the world spun around him. He gasped, unable to stay upright. He collapsed, Shiro yelling something as his senses bled away into darkness.

When Keith woke up, the first thing he recognized was the pain. His skull pounded, as if someone were using a jackhammer on his head. He was freezing cold, despite the multiple blankets piled on top of him.

“Hey.”

Keith did a double-take, because that couldn’t be real—

“You really scared us, you know.” And Keith’s heart skipped a beat, because this was Shiro, he was here and alive. He tried to sit up, but Shiro put a hand on his shoulder. And that was that, because Keith felt kitten weak and couldn’t beat Shiro in strength on a good day. Which this definitely was not.

He let his head fall against the pillow again and closed his eyes, sighing.

“How are you feeling?” Shiro asked.

“Like I got hit by a bus,” Keith muttered.

“That’s what you get for going on a mission while you’re feverish,” Shiro said mildly, putting a hand on his forehead.

“I’m not—” Shiro’s hand felt ice cold, and it gave so much relief to the ache in his head. He leaned into the touch, groaning softly. So maybe he was a little feverish.

“Easy. Coran said you’ve got the flu. Well… not really the flu, but I can’t pronounce what he actually said and it’s basically the flu for humans.”

Keith sniffled. “‘M not sick.”

“Right, and my name isn’t Shirogane Takashi.”

“Depends on which way you write it,” he retorted.

Shiro just raised an eyebrow in response.

Keith huffed. “Fine.”

“We’re trying to find something that’ll help you out, but in the meantime you’ll be stuck here.”

“Great.” Keith pressed his face into Shiro’s hand again, which still lingered nearby. He might be sick, but things could be worse. He had Shiro back, and the rest of the team would likely be by soon. He may have overworked himself a bit in his search for Shiro, but in the end he’d succeeded, hadn’t he?

Shiro is a lot of things.

Keith still remembers their late nights, spent on the roof at the Garrison or in Shiro’s dorm. Shiro had agreed to help Keith focus on his studies more, and through that the two inevitably grew closer.

“Hey, Shiro?” Keith asked, watching the stars. “What else do you think is out there?”

Shiro looked up from his astronomy assignment, humming in thought. “Life. I don't know what exactly, but I know there's something. There's no way we can be the only intelligent life in the entire universe.”

“Maybe you'll find it soon. When's the launch, again?”

“In June.” Shiro’s fingers tapped across the keyboard again, his eyes flitting up towards the sky every so often.

Keith sighed. “That’s so close. Only a month away…”

“We’ll be back before you know it,” Shiro promised. “It's just a few months.”

“What if you really do find aliens out there? Then what?”

“Then we do what’s necessary and follow standard protocol.”

“There's a standard protocol for meeting aliens?”

“Of course there is. We’re exploring for signs of other life, there'd have to be some kind of protocol for if we actually met them.”

“If you say so.”

Shiro sighed, closing his eyes as the wind gently shifted his dark hair. “I'm gonna miss you.”

Keith’s eyes teared up. He hated it, quickly blinking away the water as he ducked his head. “I—I’m gonna miss you, too,” he murmured.

Shiro smiled. “Look, see that constellation?”

Keith followed Shiro’s outstretched hand, finding the constellation in question. “Isn't that Andromeda?”

“Yeah. Look a little to the right of it. There's the Andromeda Galaxy. We’re gonna get there, someday, and even beyond that. You and me.”

Keith grinned. “Definitely.”

Keith remembers the pain of losing Shiro to the Galra, he remembers demanding answers and getting kicked out of the Garrison. He remembers the voices, the wind howling and whistling and whispering. He remembers the strange urge to search.

Keith stormed out of the front doors, clutching to a bag slung over his shoulder. He kept his head high even as his emotions threatened to drag him under, his mind a mess of Shiro’s gone and What do I do now? His jacket whipped in the wind, its collar tickling his neck as sand obscured his vision before settling. He closed his eyes and let the wind be his guide, following the way it blew past his hair and throwing it into his face. He didn’t know where he was going, but as long as it was away from the Garrison he was fine with it.

He followed the gusts of wind and didn’t look back.

After about two days, he stumbled upon a run down shed with a red hoverbike parked outside of it. He took another sip from his canteen, knocking on the door before heading inside of the shack. It didn’t look like anyone had lived there for a long time, so why was the hoverbike there? A set of keys rested on the counter, placed like they’d been thrown in a hurry. Keith picked up the ring, testing out each of the four keys. One locked the front door, one started the hoverbike, but he still didn’t know what the other two did.

Keith spent the next few days feeling a tug. He didn’t know what caused it, but his gut whispered to him. He needed to search. Search. Search for what?

He packed a bag and took the hoverbike, following the whispers in the wind and a strange energy in the air. What was going on? His gut led him to an outcropping of rocks, mountainous and stretching hundreds of feet into the air. The whispers were louder, here. Unintelligible, incomprehensible, whistling and resonating with his very soul, his very being. A cave revealed itself to him.

Keith walked inside.

He sucked in a breath. The walls were covered in carvings, some art and some of an unfamiliar script. It didn’t look like anything that could be found on Earth. What the hell was this? Keith felt the grooves in the stone, depicting several people in some kind of diagram. He pulled out his phone and took photos of each carving, up close and in its relative position. He made sure to get several of the lettering, hoping he could try and decode it somehow. The ground rumbled lowly beneath his feet, almost as if in slumber. Keith could almost make out the whispers in the air.

“Voltron,” the air whispered, leaving Keith shivering in its wake. “Paladin.”

The air stole Keith’s breath, holding his voice captive. These whispers sounded familiar, like someone he knew. “Find us.”

“Save us.”

“Free us.”

Keith ran. It was a monumental effort, but somehow he managed to tear himself away from the trance he’d slipped into and ran.

The words remained ingrained in his mind even after Keith shut the door to the shack and shuddered. His bones remembered the chill of the cave.

Keith remembers decoding the symbols. He remembers setting up his board in the shack, filling it with post-it notes along with his photos and possible theories. He remembers the date of that fateful night.

Explosions rocked the air.

Garrison vehicles quickly dispatched towards the source, away from the quarantine tent. Keith drove into the shadows and snuck past them, reaching the entrance of the tent. His hoverbike stayed outside, keys in his pocket while he pulled his bandana over the lower half of his face and walked inside.

The scientists were easy to knock down. A few kicks and punches left them unconscious, and Keith lept over one as he went to the table in the center. Tonight had been the fateful night, and an unknown ship entered the atmosphere to crash outside of the Garrison. Who was inside?

Keith froze.

“Shiro?” The name slipped past his lips, parted in utter shock. He pulled his knife from its sheath and sliced through the straps holding Shiro down, picking him up and ducking under one arm to support his weight.

What had they done to him?

That didn’t matter at the moment, though. All Keith cared about was that moment on the desert hill, putting a hand on Shiro’s shoulder.

“It’s good to have you back.”

And Shiro had smiled, even if a ghost of one, and relaxed with the sun ahead of them casting a warm light.

“It’s good to be back.”

Keith remembers forming Voltron. He remembers falling into an easy sync with the others, all working for a common goal.

Sendak’s tractor beam tugged at the lions, pulling them up towards the bay. Someone shouted, maybe it was Keith. All he knew in that moment was the connection of their minds, all focused on one goal.

The Red Lion’s screens shifted as its body transformed with the others, each lion connecting with Black until they were completely in sync. Keith could feel the minds of the others brushing against his own, curiosity and determination and loyalty all rolled into one. It was overwhelming, and yet at the same time Keith had never felt closer to home.

“How are we doing this?” Lance. Lance’s confusion and exhilaration, flowing through the bond and affecting all of them. Keith fought the urge to laugh, giddy with excitement from everyone in the bond.

“I don’t know,” Shiro, determination and hope burning bright, “but let’s get that cannon!”

Keith relished the shared satisfaction when Sendak’s ship crashed to the ground, the thrill of winning their first fight. Maybe they could really do this.

With a connection like that, it was hard not to miss when they split back into individual lions.

Keith remembers losing Shiro again.

Keith ran. His mind oddly quiet, he couldn’t focus on anything other than the icy spike of fear deep in his chest.

“Shiro!” he shouted, sprinting at full speed towards the Black Lion. It laid flat in the hangar, limp and unresponsive. “Shiro!”

He charged up the ramp and into the cockpit, freezing at the sight of the empty chair. Where was Shiro?

“He’s… gone,” Lance murmured, almost as disbelieving as Keith felt. What happened in that fight that made Shiro just… disappear? Had it even been the fight? What if it was those wings that caused it?

Keith wanted to be sick.

Nobody could ever replace Shiro. They’d just found each other again, only for Shiro to be torn away yet again to an unknown world in some part of the universe.

Keith’s heart felt like it snapped in two, and his eyes prickled with tears.

He’d lost Shiro for the second time, and he had no idea where to even start looking for him.

Keith remembers finding him, that sense of relief and something else that he’d felt.

The Black Lion’s console pinged, revealing the location of a ship. Black purred in Keith’s head, a simple message: He’s there.

Keith didn’t need telling twice. A quick data transfer and the Castle opened a wormhole. Keith charged into it without heading back into the hangar, approaching a deactivated Galra fighter as the Castle trailed behind. With the help of the others, Keith boarded the Galra fighter and pulled out a nearly-unconscious Shiro.

His heart had skipped a beat when he first saw the sight, automatically assuming the worst, but when he got closer Shiro’s eyes were still partially open and the scanners still showed him as alive. So Keith had carefully picked up Shiro, bringing him back to the Castle and sitting with him through Coran’s medical exam.

Shiro had been weak and unkempt, but all that mattered was that he was alive and here with Keith. For now, all Keith wanted to focus on was the familiar weight and heat from Shiro.

They could figure everything else out later.

Keith remembers confessing on a quiet night, watching the stars from the Castle window.

“It’s hard to believe.” Shiro leaned forward on his pillow, pressing his face to the glass. “All of these stars and planets used to be under Zarkon’s rule.”

Keith smiled. “They're beautiful, aren't they?”

“Absolutely. Hey, look, that one almost looks like Andromeda.”

“It does.” Keith hesitated before speaking, leaning in as if he were telling a secret. “Though, I do have to say, none of them are as beautiful as you.”

Shiro’s eyes went wide. “You don't mean that,” he said after a moment.

“Of course I do.” Keith smiled for a moment before it fell. “I… I like you. A lot. I don't know if you feel the same way, but… I know how I feel.”

“Keith…” Shiro’s eyes were still wide, staring at him in shock.

Keith hesitated. Had he messed something up? Did Shiro hate him now? He started to pull away, started to open his mouth to make some excuse to leave.

“I like you, too.”

Keith remembers Shiro leaning in, their eyes falling shut as their lips met in an easy rhythm.

“You ever wonder what our lives would be like if none of this ever happened?” Shiro asked.

“Sometimes.” Keith closed his eyes, listening to the soft whir of the engines and Shiro’s arm. The sounds comforted him, filling the otherwise silent air with white noise.

Two months had passed since they first began dating, but they hadn’t had much time to actually “date” with constant diplomatic missions and Galra attacks. It became exhausting, after a while, so much that they tended to split up whenever possible. It allowed for more to be done, which meant a bit more downtime.

Now, though, the lights were dim with the artificial night cycle. Keith and Shiro had snuck up to the bridge, pulling up the star map and watching Earth in their home system.

“It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come,” Shiro said eventually. “I wouldn't give any of this up for the world, but… sometimes you just wonder, you know? Do you think all of us still would've met each other?”

“It really is,” Keith agreed. “I wouldn't give it up, either. And I’m not sure, but I think we would still meet.”

Shiro smiled fondly. “We’re certainly all stubborn enough for it. I'm glad I met you, at least.”

“So am I.”

Shiro hesitated, watching Keith closely. After a moment, he started to slowly lean in. Keith met him halfway, closing his eyes as their lips met. Shiro’s hand rested lightly on the back of Keith’s neck, a comforting pressure. Keith could still pull away if he wanted, but he really didn't want to.

His head felt like fireworks, like something right slotting into place and completing the puzzle. The kiss itself was chaste, and too soon Shiro was pulling away and resting his forehead against Keith’s. But they’d talked about this, and Keith respected Shiro’s wishes to go slow.

Even though Keith was quick and impulsive, he could slow down for Shiro. It would always be worth it.

Keith remembers dismantling the foundation of the Galra Empire, finally removing the corruption from the universe.

The Coalition had become enormous. Spanning across several systems, several galaxies, there had to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people in open rebellion against the Galra Empire. The thoughts of the five paladins bled together, as they usually did when forming Voltron, and Keith could feel all of their hope and determination as it traveled through the bond.

Voltron drew its sword, acting on all of their desires as they charged forward. The blade struck deep into Zarkon’s Central Command, strikes from the coalition aiding where they weren't. Matt’s rebel organization dealt with the swarms of fighters that threatened to overtake some of the coalition ships, while even Lotor used his Sincline ships to cause as much damage as possible. The Blade of Marmora snuck into the ship, killing the power and overall causing as much chaos as possible.

The Voltron Coalition had chipped away at the Empire’s boundaries for nearly a year before performing another feat like they had on Naxzela. They'd taken back a line of planets, effectively cutting off all of the territory behind it, and after that the coalition quickly drove the Empire out of that sector.

Allura had engaged the Druids in battle, using her own magic to distract them and prevent them from targeting Voltron or the paladins.

Red purred in Keith’s mind. It was time to end this, once and for all.

Several explosions occurred inside of the ship, destroying all of the power generators as well as the engines. The weapons system was next to go, exploding in a fiery blaze of blue and green that was quickly swallowed up by the black void of space.

“Yeah!” Lance cheered.

Shiro inserted his bayard into the Black Lion at the same time Lance, Pidge, and Hunk did.

Voltron’s sword grew until it resembled the one they had used on Taujeer, long enough to cut through a battle cruiser with ease. With the addition of Shiro’s bayard, quintessence sparked along the blade and supercharged it. The paladins fell deeper into the bond with each other and their lions, breathing in the same scents and sharing the same eyes.

In that moment, they were one being.

In that moment, Voltron struck.

The quintessence from their sword transferred to Central Command, overloading the ship’s systems and Haggar’s crystals in its purest form. All of them saw through each other’s eyes, heard each other’s thoughts, worked in perfect sync.

They all saw when Central Command shuddered and broke apart from the onslaught of weaponry and sheer determination.

Zarkon’s robeast had been destroyed, and with it his life had ultimately ended. No amount of quintessence could save his life.

For a moment, the comms and their bond went silent in shock.

Then everything exploded at once, people celebrating and cheering. Keith let himself be swept up in all of it, giddy even as they removed their bayards and split into lions.

Zarkon’s reign was at an end.

Keith remembers Shiro lowering himself to one knee, asking those four words that made Keith’s stomach do flips and his heart pound.

“Hey, Keith… do you have a minute?”

Keith turned to face Shiro, the wind blowing gently through the grass. “Always. What's up?”

“It’s been a while,” Shiro started. “I mean, a few years ago, we were still back at the Garrison trying to make ends meet. Now we’re Paladins of Voltron, something so much bigger than just us. We haven't had a lot of time to spend together because of it, even after we got together. It's been a year and a half since then. Almost four years since the Kerberos Mission launched, almost three since we first formed Voltron. And I've… been thinking.

“This is something we’ve decided on continuing with, now that the war’s over and even Earth joined the coalition. With the tech they've gained, they're really becoming a force of their own. But this isn't about them. I wanted to talk about us. So…” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just bear with me, okay?”

“Take all the time you need,” Keith answered.

Shiro gave him a grateful smile. “Okay. As I said earlier, we decided to keep doing all of this for the universe’s sake. But for a moment, I want to just… focus on us. Even all those years ago when I met you in the Garrison, you caught my eye and took my breath away. And on top of it, you’re so… honest, you say things how they are rather than lying and I wish I could do that, sometimes. But I don’t need to, because you’re here with me.

“I… I appreciate it so, so much. I’m so glad I met you, Keith. Remember a while back, I asked you if you ever wondered what our lives would be like if none of this ever happened?” Keith nodded, and Shiro continued. “I stopped wondering as much. Even though we went through a lot of things, we all had each other. That night we started dating, I asked you to take it slow, and I just… I appreciate it, a lot. I love you, Keith. To the moon and to Kerberos and to the ends of the universe. So, I have a question for you.”

“What is it?” Keith asked, his heart pounding loudly in his chest and his mind racing from Shiro’s speech.

Shiro hesitated for a single second before lowering himself to one knee, removing a small box from his pocket. Keith’s heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened. Shiro opened the box, revealing a simple band. “It’s not exactly what you’d consider a ‘standard’ engagement ring, but I figured you wouldn’t want it to be flashy like that.” Keith could only nod, his mind struggling to form a coherent thought.

“So, officially… Keith, will you marry me?”

Keith’s eyes prickled with tears. “I—yes. Of course. God, yes.”

Shiro’s resulting smile dimmed the sun in comparison as he slipped the band onto Keith’s finger, getting to his feet and pressing a kiss to his lips.

Keith wants to make every second of their time together something to remember for the rest of his life, even between their work for the coalition and visits to Earth.

Keith leans in and presses his forehead to Shiro’s, closing his eyes.

In this moment, they are truly intertwined.