#shancefluffweek2018

He was hurt more than the others during the battle, although not badly enough to warrant a trip to a pod. Bruises and cuts littered his body, but nothing severe. Shiro patched him up after their short after-battle meeting on the bridge, which was when Lance had mentioned going to take a nap in his and Shiro’s shared bed.

“Take as long as you need.” Shiro said, and pressed a gentle kiss to Lance’s lips.

Shiro walked to their room to wake Lance up for dinner. When he arrived, Lance was drooling on Shiro’s pillow and his legs were tangled in the blanket. He smiled fondly at the younger man and walked over to shake him from his sleep. He groaned sleepily and mumbled something incoherent. Shiro laughed softly and ruffled his boyfriend’s hair. “It’s time for dinner.”

“I don't wanna get up.” Lance whined.

“Come on, you need to eat. Especially after how scratched up you got.”

Lance cracked an eye open and reached his arms out. “Carry me.” Shiro was going to deny the request, but one look into those pretty blue eyes had him bending over to pick Lance up. He giggled and pressed a loud, dramatic kiss to Shiro’s cheek. “My strong hero.” he giggled with a big dopey smile stretched across his face.

“What's got you so smiley? Have a nice rest?” Shiro teased as he started towards the kitchen. The castle was big so it would take a few minutes to get there.

Lance hummed. “Yeah, had a good dream and then woke up to a beautiful face.”

“But I thought I woke you up.” Shiro said, tilting his head to the side in fake confusion.

“Oh, shut up. You're very beautiful.”

Shiro smiled. “Alright, alright. So what was this dream about?”

“My family. All of us were on the beach and I was collecting shells with my brother Marco.”

Shiro was worried for a second since Lance got homesick easily. But he didn't seem sad at the moment, and he actually seemed to be happier than usual. He found Lance, multiple times, sitting in the middle of the star map Coran had showed them. He was always so quiet and unlike his usual self at those times, and it made Shiro’s heart ache.

Shiro wishes he could just take away all of Lance’s pain and sadness, but that wasn't possible. All he could do was be there for Lance and tell him how much he was loved. He knew it helped, but that didn't mean it cured his homesickness completely. He loved Lance so much and he would give this boy anything and everything if he could because that's what he deserved.

“Sounds like a nice dream.”

Lance nodded against Shiro’s chest and there was comfortable silence for a minute. Lance spoke quietly then, and if there was any noise other than the distant whir behind the castle walls, Shiro wouldn't have caught it. “I want to take you there one day… To meet my family and to see the beach where I grew up.”

“We’ll go there one day, sweetheart. I promise.”

Lance smiled at the pet name. “When we get back to Earth, let's collect shells and make matching necklaces together. And go swimming and watch the sunset on the beach too.” Shiro took note of the fact that Lance said “when” and not “if” they get back to Earth, and kissed his forehead. “That all sounds lovely. Especially if I'm doing it with you.”

Lance’s face heated up and he hid his buried himself further into Shiro’s chest. “You big sap.”

When they arrived at the dining room, Hunk took one look at Shiro carrying Lance and slapped his hands over Pidge’s eyes. “No PDA in front of the children!”

“Hunk, I'm only two years younger than you!”

Lance never would have known if it weren't for the life-changing chain of events that lead them all to the Castle of Lions.

Shiro found out the night Lance was injured, when Sendak invaded the castle. If a person gets hurt, their soulmate feels the pain. This is what makes it so hard to find your soulmate, because the pain only lasts for a few minutes, and you don't get their scars. But when everyone reached where the bomb had gone off, when Shiro saw Lance so motionless and in pain on the ground, he knew it was him. That was why he wanted to be the one to carry Lance to the med bay. Shiro just couldn't leave him after finding out Lance his soulmate was.

When they were all around the table recalling the previous day’s events, Shiro was still deciding when a good time would be to tell Lance. But then Pidge had decided to confess her gender to the team, and Shiro thought it would be a good time for him to confess something as well.

Everyone had started to leave the room when Shiro stopped them. “Wait. I have something to say too.” Everyone stopped and turned to look at him then, and he let it out. They decided to get to know each other more at first, then had begun dating not long after that.

Battles seemed somehow worse after finding out they were soulmates, probably because sometimes they didn't know whether the pain they felt was their own or not.

Shiro once asked Lance what he had thought when the Galra held him captive for that first year in space. Lance said that he was terrified for his soulmate, that he wanted to help so badly but there was no way. But he also said that he was happier now since he knew Shiro was safe now, away from the torture.

After many years in space, they finally arrived on Earth and were married soon after.

The fighting was over, and all Shiro wanted was to live in peace with his soulmate. He was happy now, he knew Lance was too. Things happened, it’s the way the world was and it was inevitable, and he didn't know what would happen next.

But one thing was for certain. Whether in space or on Earth, during battles or after the war, their love for each other would never cease.

There was a close call in battle that day. Too close.

Lance had a panic attack in their room earlier, and Shiro continued to hold him close even after it had passed. Shiro was still petting his hair and whispering sweet reassurances, just as he always did in times like these.

They had been in space for many years now, but the universe still wasn’t ready for them to retire from being paladins. There were many close calls during their time in space, but that didn’t make it any easier. It wasn’t uncommon for any of them to have breakdowns anymore.

“We’re going to get out of this war alive and you're going to be able to see your family again. I promise.” Shiro said.

Lance responded with a tired hum.

“And,” Shiro continued. “We’re going to grow old together. After all of this is over, we’ll live out the rest of our lives on Earth. We can get a dog and a cat, and they'll probably fight a lot but we’ll deal with it.”

Lance snorted. “That's so cheesy, Shiro. But it sounds like you've got it all figured out, huh?” The smile was evident in his voice.

The two of them had gotten engaged a few months back. They were together for a while, and both knew they wouldn’t be headed back to Earth anytime soon. So Shiro took it upon himself to find a beautiful pair of matching rings at a shop on a beautiful planet they rescued.

He kissed Lance’s hair. “Yup.”

“Oh my god. Please don't do that.” he groaned into Shiro’s chest.

He laughed. “Sorry, sorry.” Ever since the mission at Beta Traz, everyone had taken every possible opportunity to tease Lance about his mistake with the warden’s pet yupper.

The room was filled with comfortable silence, and lance spoke again a few minutes later. “Do you really think we’re going to make it back to Earth?”

Shiro was quiet for a few moments before finally answering. “Yes. In one piece? Maybe not. But we will make it back eventually.”

Lance knew Shiro was talking about his arm. It was true, any one of them could get really hurt and lose a limb just as he had. It was a scary thought, but Lance knew he had to accept it. He knew it was a possibility, since it had already happened to Shiro, after all.

“Tell me more about what our lives will be like when we get back.”

Shiro hummed. “Well, I'll have to meet your family. Do you think they’ll like me?”

“Of course they will.” he replied instantly with confidence. “What about me? Do you think your parents will approve?”

“Approve of the most talented, beautiful sharpshooter ever?” he asked with a teasing smile.

Lance went red with embarrassment. “Shiro!”

“What? It's true.” He grinned wide. “Yes, of course they'll approve of you, sweetheart.”

Lance sighed and moved from laying on Shiro’s chest to sit next to him against the wall. He rested his head on Shiro’s shoulder, who reached for Lance’s hand to give it a gentle squeeze.

“We’re going to be okay, Lance. We’re going to get married and live long enough to turn gray and wrinkly.” He said, jokingly.

“Hey, I won’t be getting wrinkly thanks to my perfect skin regimen. But you, Shiro, are already past gray.” Lance reached over and ran a hand through Shiro’s white streak of hair. Over the years, he had grown all of his hair out long.

“Oh, shush, I can’t help it. Just as your skin routine can’t prevent wrinkles.”

“Nothing can beat my space face masks. I’m telling you, Shiro, I’ll be beautiful forever! It’s a curse that I must live with for the rest of my days.” Lance said dramatically.

“The rest of your gray, wrinkly days.”