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dork-empress · 6 years

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Adam/Shiro Dream

Part of my Voltron “Bed Time Stories” Oneshot Collection

Read on Ao3

Shiro has a good dream in a bad situation.

Can't stay away from that bittersweet for long, I guess. oops.

Shiro was dreaming. He could tell. He was back at the Garrison, even though he’d been gone for….some time, he didn’t know. He didn’t really remember what was going on in the waking world, but he knew it was something bad.

He knew what he wanted right now, though. Now, more than anything.

He ran through the halls. It took no time at all before he was at a familiar door. He swung it open, barely noticing it was with his flesh-and-blood right hand. Why on earth wouldn’t it be, after all?

Inside the room was Adam, as though Shiro had never left him, standing over a hot stove and stirring something in a pot. “Hi, Takashi,” he said, “Pasta ok for dinner tonight? I don’t really have the energy for anything more complicated than that.”

Shiro came up behind him and threw his arms around his waist, holding him tight. “I missed you,” he said, nuzzling into his neck, “I missed you so much.”

Dream Adam smiled, leaning back to peck Shiro on the forehead. “Missed you too, you little shit,” he smirked, “Can you heat up some of my mom’s meat sauce for me? It’s in the fridge.”

Shiro was reluctant to let go of Adam, but went to grab the tupperware container, sticking it into the microwave as-is before returning to Adam’s warmth. “Dear God, Shiro, didn’t anyone ever tell you any microwave protocol?” Adam said rushing over to the microwave to turn it off. “Stir the pot, would you?”

Sighing, Shiro stirred the pasta in water, as Adam took out the tupperware and poured the sauce into a microwave-safe bowl. It smelled just how Shiro remembered, taking him back to Christmases spent at Adam’s house, sitting by a fireplace, listening to Adam’s dad interrogate him about his career, while Adam and his mother worked in the kitchen.

Adam put a paper towel over the bowl, so it wouldn’t get all over the microwave, and stuck it in, before taking back over for Shiro. “I have never met someone so talented, who was also such an unmitigated disaster.”

Shiro whined, laying his head on Adam’s shoulder, swaying them where they stood. “I try my best.”

“That’s what scares me, sometimes,” Adam said, leaning into him.

Tears sprang up in Shiro’s eyes. “You were right,” he said, “I shouldn’t have gone. I shouldn’t have left. I should have stayed here, with you, and Keith, and just--just tried to be happy here while I could.”

Adam hummed comfortingly, “You wouldn’t have been happy, and you know it.”

“I would,” he protested, “I would with you.”

Sighing, Adam put his wooden spoon aside, turning down the heat on the water. He’d put spices in the water, Shiro could tell. He turned around, holding Shiro’s face in his hands. “You’re a pilot. You wouldn’t be happy unless you could BE a pilot, for as long as you could, anyway. You couldn’t have left Sam and Matt to go up with someone less experienced, less skilled. You did what you always do,” He leaned his forehead against Shiro’s, “The right thing.”

The tears fell down Shiro’s face, and he put his hands over Adam’s. “This isn’t real,” he said, “This is just what I want to hear. My subconscious trying to comfort itself.”

“Then let it,” Dream Adam said, “You don’t take care of yourself enough anyway. That’s what I was always here for.”

Reality started to seep into Shiro’s dream, memories and flashes of things that happened just earlier that day. “Let’s get married,” he urged the dream, “right now, like we always wanted to do. Live our lives like we always wanted.”

He opened his eyes and Adam was in a white tux, as was he. They were in a field or a park, somewhere outside and beautiful. Keith and Matt and Sam were standing beside him, Adam’s family on his side. They wore rings, beautiful rings on their fingers as Adam held him close.

Shiro kissed him, hanging onto this moment like it was the last moment in the world.

He felt reality creeping up on him, feeling droopy, like he couldn’t move. “Adam,” he tried to whisper, but his voice was lost.

He woke up back in his cell, his white tux turned to prison clothes, and his companions strange aliens huddled up and terrified about what the day would bring.

#voltron legendary defender #vld adam #vld shiro #adashi #shadam #fic #bed time stories #laura writes

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stupidalteanpools · 7 years

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projecting? probably, but hear me out

General Keith meta I guess. This is very long, but good writing ref for all you fellow fic authors.

Keith is a very sensitive guy.

Basically... out of all the voltron characters, Keith is the most relatable to me. I see him as someone who thinks more from his heart than from his head, who really does genuinely just want to do the right thing but gets way too carried away with what’s going on in his own head. He doesn’t care for people telling him what to do because he wants independence, but he is very emotionally affected by them regardless. He’s got a strong willpower, but the way he applies it is very much built around people and emotion.

Okay. So. First thing that comes to mind is the bonding moment? Obviously. He’s the kind of guys who clearly reads really deeply into things and probably overthinks a lot of things if he has nothing better to do.

I mean, yes, he does charge into situations unprepared without thinking ALL THE TIME but when he’s forced to sit down and think - say, for example, when he’s tossing and turning waiting for lance to come out of the healing pod (I see those lines under your eyes, Keith. I see them.) - he really goes at it. He reads into situations too much and tries to fit them to what he hopes for; does he dare to venture so far as to say that maybe Lance and him have something special now? In reality Lance was just a half-delirious boy pleased that he just blasted sendak, but Keith read way too much into it and went into their next interactions with a lot of hopes that were very quickly shot down.

He reads into the smile and the handholding as a sign of friendship. “we are a good team” probably means something deeper - it probably means Lance is realizing that they (as in, specifically him and keith) work really well together. He doesn’t see it as a spur of the moment thing - he feels like Lance has developed something more permanent with him, and so he cant resist the smile that comes to his face. We see that - he looks at lance for a second or two before slowly shifting into a smile - because he’s thinking and going through these what-ifs and reading into what those words mean.

His face throughout the beginning of Taking Flight.

Everyone always talks about this, I don’t really need to go into it - he’s very worried and concerned and pouty and all that good stuff. But there are lines under his eyes. Unfortunately I don’t have screenshots to add here right now, but those lines aren’t always under his eyes - so he was definitely losing sleep over Lance. I mean, if that doesn’t mean he was an emotional hurricane until Lance stumbled out asking about clocks, i don’t know how else you could interpret it.

the amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane.

He’s salty - because Lance forgot their bonding moment, Lance literally lost information so Keith’s making a jab at Lance’s memory loss. He clearly hasn’t stopped thinking about it. It was important to him, Lance doesn’t remember - - - - and now there’s no way he can just get over it without some kind of emotional release, which of course comes out through an insult.

we’re going back to the beginning. Lance and Keith, neck and neck - what does that mean?? Keith really has no memory of this boy, and here he is antagonizing him. That creates stress. And he’s already saving Shiro, whom he clearly has already known for a while. It’s a high-stress situation and adding these complex social dynamics is too much to focus on so he mutters out “congratulations” and just puts his mind to the task at hand.

Keith does this. He channels his emotions into action whenever he doesn’t want to think about them - this is really apparent all throughout the show, I’m not sure I need to go into examples here. But of course he hasn’t gotten Lance’s comment out of his system yet, and hearing him jabbering on from the back of his hover bike plane thing, the insult just kind of creates itself. It’s another way Keith tends to release his negative energy - he can’t cope with it himself, so he yells, he glares, he makes passive aggressive jabs.

It’s not just impulse, it’s an inability to hold his emotions down. The slightest things tend to enter his brain and he starts thinking about them too much, and he immediately needs release from that. Hence the temperamental nature, the tendency to seek isolation.

Which is another thing I’d like to get into. Keith likes being alone.

I think there’s more to it than just, “I like it out here. It’s quiet.” Keith has a tendancy to react to every stimulus around him: as I’ve said above, he overthinks small things and immediately seeks release for those building emotions. So he isolates himself because it’s comforting when he doesn’t have to work around other people. Lance especially: someone who definitely makes conscious effort to get on Keith’s nerves and one up him, someone who’s naturally a talkative boy. That’s a little too much for Keith, who prefers people who can either go along with him or will leave him alone. It’s not always a good thing though, and Lance knows that and calls him out on his behavior a lot, which is why I think Keith is very aware of the fact that his behavior is problematic - but I’ll get to that later.

Keith’s tendancy to look for places that are more secluded, quiet, and undisturbed by anything that isn’t his own i think reflects on an aspect of Keith’s personality that also explains why Keith gets along with Shiro so well. (And before I go on, I’m going off the theory that the cast has hinted at that Shiro is 25 and the other three boys are all 17ish.) Shiro is older than him and wiser, but he never uses it against keith or as a reason that keith should respect him. “you’re like a brother to me” is a very important choice of words because it reveals a lot about the way Keith sees Shiro, besides of course the obvious brotherly feelings. Keith is known for having issues with authority figures, so the fact that he calls Shiro his brother is significant in that Keith views him as an equal, but still as a guiding figure/role model. The choice of words denotes more respect toward Shiro than it would have if Keith had said “you’re like a father to me.”

Where Keith is concerned, a brother is more important than a father because not only does Keith have a distaste for authority figures, he specifically has issues with his own dad. Calling Shiro his brother equates shiro to someone Keith can wholly trust to stand by him no matter what. At the same time, Shiro fits Keith’s personality well because he’s gentle and he suggests things more often than he commands things. He doesn’t say, “Keith, you’re going to be the next black paladin,” he says, “I want you to lead voltron.” It’s a very clear distinction between “you” and “i” - the first one puts Keith on the spot, while the second one keeps it in Shiro’s perspective. The way Shiro communicates with Keith is simple and it doesn’t make Keith feel like he’s forced into anything, and Keith craves this easy comfort, especially with his high-riding emotions.

Back to lance for a bit. I’m not saying Lance is the worst person for Keith to ineract with. Their clashing personalities is exactly what makes them so dynamic as rivals, yes, but we also see that Lance is the only other person who seems to be able to calm Keith down and force him to think through things in a different way. Stopping him in the balmera, calming him down in the blade of marmora episode, etc. Yet, lance’s approach is drastically different from Shiro’s - so what makes him draw a similarly effective response from Keith?

I think this is more to do with Lance’s personality than Keith’s. I’ll keep this short - Lance is very drawn to people. We see this in how quick he is to flirt, we see this in how easily he picks up altean lingo, we see this in how fast he runs to defend people he’s just met, we see this in how he doubts himself and his position in the eyes of the other paladins. He’s more afraid of letting his friends down than he is of failing the universe, the way I see it. So this friendliness and magnetic personality - it applies to Keith as well. They’re friends, too, and just the fact that Lance is good with socializing when Keith is so not is enough to baffle Keith enough that he listens to lance. It’s not with ease like it is when Shiro is calming Keith down, but it’s effective and quick - and it keeps Keith in check, which is a big thing that Shiro just... fails to do, as much as I love him.

So, about Keith’s dad... his family, in general. I wasn’t really part of the fandom back when this was news, but I think it was said that Keith is secretely very happy to be part of voltron? and that really isn’t surprising at all. I’ve stressed a lot that keith like to isolate himself, but he still really wants to be liked and accepted and part of a larger community. Growing up as an orphan and later as the Garrison’s ace pilot has drastically shaped Keith’s personality. As an orphan, he’s had to learn to take care of himself, he’s had to learn some humility, he’s had to learn very quickly that the world isn’t his. Most children aren’t forced to grow out of that mindset so fast. Then Keith enlists in the garrison where he’s considered the most talented pilot of his generation, but it’s very obvious that this has never gotten to his head - we see it in his reluctance to be the black paladin, we see this in how uncomfortabe he looks everytime Lance mentions Keith from back in the garrison days. Keith is not comfortable with being in the spotlight - he’s been forced to be alone for a good part of his life and he doesn’t seek any more of it.

What’s much more important to Keith is belonging to a kind of community. Rather than being at the top, he’d prefer to have a family. Team voltron has been described as a family by Allura multiple times, and I think it’s definitely meant to feel that way. It’s the one thing that he hasn’t had for a long time, and it’s why it’s so significant that he see’s Shiro as his brother and why that admission is such high praise coming from Keith. I’m not going to get into why this is my headcanon, but Keith’s dad left keith when Keith was young and is probably still alive out there somewhere. It’s not that he needs his dad - he’s pretty distanced from him and although there are strong emotions there, there’s nothing all that phenomenal going on between them.

What’s more important about Keith’s relationship with his dad is how it contrasts with Keith’s relationship with the rest of team voltron. This is very clearly explored int the blade of marmora episode, and also another reason why Shiro is the one who is needed in that episode with keith. Shiro represents Keith’s family with voltron while his dad represents his blood-related family. The choice between the two is one of Keith’s biggest internal conflicts.

How does that tie into Keith being a sensetive person? It means Keith focuses heavily on being accepted by the people around him. It’s why it bothers him so much when Lance antagonizes him and why he tends to overthink those situations. It’s why we see those miserable expressions on Keith’s face every time Allura discriminates against his Galra side.

Yet, Keith’s still someone who rises agaisnt authority and seeks independence, so he’s not going to settle for trying to get people to like him - he wants them to like him as he is. It’s why he didn’t keep his galra lineage a secret, like I first expected he would when I was watching for the first time. It’s why he chooses to infiltrate the Galra ship. “No one’s commanding me. I’m doing it.” He knows he needs to prove both to himself and to his fellow paladins that every part of him, including the part that is Galra, is acceptable, even an asset.

It’s all part of his need to feel emotionally secure and comortable with his place in Voltron, and it’s why Hunk’s galra keith jokes are so important - Hunk’s normalizing the fact that Keith’s Galra, he’s accepting it. That means a lot to Keith, which is why even though he does give Hunk exasperated looks, he only retorts back when he needs correct Hunk by saying “I didn’t just turn galra.” Keith has always been Galra, and he’s not afraid of that fact anymore. He even smiles at Hunk by the end of the mission, because he’s comfortable knowing that Hunk accepts him as Galra without simply ignoring the fact and acting like nothing’s different.

8 (jeez i lost count and had to scroll up)

Let’s talk about Keith dropping out. this section will be pretty short compared to 7. he mentions how he found himself lost and drawn out to the desert by some energy telling him to search. I think the blue lion could sense him because he was galra and was probably calling to him through that connection - i also think that it’s very possible that a blade of marmora galra was the former blue paladin but took the blue lion to earth to keep it away from Zarkon’s hands. The same Galra is probably Keith’s mom or ancestor or something -- anyway. Blue still chooses Lance as her paladin, but i think Keith and lance are still connected through the blue lion because of this by @voltronturd - - A N Y WAY.

It’s obviously something that has impacted Keith very heavily. It’s the reason they found Voltron, yes, but it meant a lot of really bad things for Keith - he has no family to return to, no other career to pursue, and he winds up in the desert, aimless. Keith’s a person who commits 100% to everything he does. and as much as I fucking love the conspiracy theorist keith memes, i just don’t think it’s in character at all. It’s more of a result of him having nothing better to do and nothing else in his life left to him rather than a secret passion. Keith was definitely a broken man for that portion of his life - another reason it makes perfect sense that Keith is secretly happy being a part of voltron and why learning that didn’t surprise me.

Okay, Keith and social situations - they don’t mix, we all know this. Why, though? I’d like to go into specifically their interactions with the arusians. “I don’t normally hug strangers, but, uh, wow. You... are.. cuddly.” what’s important is how he says he doesn’t normally hug strangers - not that he doesn’t hug strangers, not that he doesn’t normally hug people, but that he doesn’t normally hug strangers. before I start sounding like a broken record, basically, Keith is not opposed to hugging at all - it’s why i fucking love cuddly keith in fanfiction. He seems completely comfortable and at ease hugging Shiro, and while not so much with Allura, that’s more attributed to the fact that she’s suddenly calling him part of her family before stepping in close and curling over his shoulders without actually hugging him. It’s more of a keith, hold me gesture than a let me hug you gesture, and for a boy who struggles with social cues a little, it explains why the two of them are a little physcially awkward in that scene.

So it’s not so much that he’s antisocial - as i’ve already described, he needs to feel like he belongs and he needs to feel love and acceptance just as much as any of the other. But with Keith, he tends to hide his positive emotions just as much and just as quickly as he tends to expel his negative emotions. We see this in how he smiles when Lance can’t see him, we see this in how he smiles to himself when Lance is out of the pod, we see this in how he leans against a tree trunk while the arusians are celebrating, we see this in his controlled, conflicted expressions at seeing his dad - although that last one is, admittedly, a bit different. (Keith’s not exactly happy at seeing his dad, he’s pretty conflicted and hence the conflicted expression, but i digress.) He’s more free about it with Shiro, because he knows Shiro won’t shut him down. He’s more free about it when he’s alone or in charge, because, again, he won’t be shut down; we see that in episode one as he grins before plummetting over the cliff, we see that when he smiles at hunk after their scaultrite mission, we see that when he grins at Lance after nailing him with a spore-ball.

But when he doesn’t know whether it’s appropriate or whether it will be appreciated, he tends to distance himself from the people or to suppress it. So when meeting new aliens the reason he’s quiet isn’t really because he doesn’t want to talk to them, it’s really because he isn’t confident in his ability to make a desirable first impression so he’d rather just enjoy himsel fin private rather than screw things up for himself. And this next part has no solid canon backing, it’s just me taking characters and putting them in probably situations, but I think he admires lance for being able to talk to people so easily, especially because it’s a skill he lacks. He can’t really do diplomacy.

Keith knows his behavior is problematic. This ties into what I just said - he doesn’t really trust himself to create the right first impression. On the balmera mission with Lance he says “That - actually... is a better idea.” meaning he’s fully capable of seld-reflection and he’s aware that there are better ways to do things. He’s very conscious of the fact that he’s not in control of his emotions, and not only that, but he’s not willing to fix it - We see that when Shiro tells him he needs to control his emotions and he kind of brushes it off with a “I know. I’ve just had a lot on my mind.” He doesn’t like to talk about the fact that he needs to get in control, but he definitely knows it.

It’s why he turns around and frowns when Lance tells him to calm down before they go see the blade of marmora - he knows he’s being irrational and he’s sour at being called out on it but because he knows lance is right, he doesn’t bite back. It makes sense to him that lance would say that, but he doesn’t have a response to it other than just shutting himself off and removing himself from the situation before he makes it worse. It’s revisited that same episode by shiro when he asks Keith if keith’s okay, and mentions how Keith “kind of blew up at everyone back there.” Keith’s immediate response is that he’s fine - he does this several times in season two. He’s not mature enough to deal with his emotions, and this is exactly what Shiro points out to him - and he’s not mature enough to deal with that, either, despite the fact that he knows it.

This is just kind of emphasized in the simulation later that same episode, when brain shiro says “you’re thinking of yourself, as usual.” Keith is evidently very aware that he gets carried away with his emotions, and one of his fears is that he won’t be able to control it - you’re thinking of yourself, as usual. The “as usual” is important - it proves that Keith knows it’s a deeply ingrained trait that he has had for a very long time, and he’s afraid that it’s going to continue to create problems for him. It’s important to him that Shiro says this, because given that he places a heavy importance on the feeling of being part of a family and that Shiro is the closest thing he has to it, Shiro saying this is the best way to force Keith to face the problem, and the best way to make him grow and learn to choose the better option (which is choosing voltron over his blood-related family - this growth is what awakens his blade later on.) It really is build up toward Keith taking over the black lion, but until season 3 airs in september I can still hope for black paladin allura.

If you read this far, and you have stuff to say, dude hmu let’s chat about it. I hope it was just kinda helpful, insightful, and intriguing. If you draw some other conclusion about Keith’s character than I have I’d love to hear it. I might reblog this post again and add more to it so.. check back! if you’re interested. It’s 2:00 am and I probably missed a bunch of stuff I was thinking about when I started writing this post but whatever, wish me luck on my history exam tomorrow

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eastofthemoon · 7 years

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Towards the Sun- Chapter 3

Title: Towards The Sun- Chapter 1 (Part of the What if The Storm Ends? Series)

Rating: PG

Series: Voltron Legendary Defender

Summary: After the rebels escape, Thace is now staying at the Castle of Lions and Keith has questions for him that can no longer be put on hold. However, once he gets his answers, Keith is afraid how everyone else will take the news.

Archive of Our Own

Chapter 3

Keith swallowed and tried as he might, he couldn’t find the words. It wasn’t a complete shock, not really with all the evidence and suspicions he had, but hearing it for certain felt so unreal. Thace said nothing, and merely continued to stare at Keith as the boy pulled up a chair and sat.

Keith fiddled with his fingers as he struggled to speak. “Did you..always know who I was?”

Thace took a deep breath and he leaned forward. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t a hundred percent certain until we on Ceinus.” He stared downward at his feet. “I..took a blood sample from you while you slept, and confirmed you shared my DNA.”

Thace’s eyes hardened as he raised his head. “However, I became suspicious the instant I saw your picture in a report we were given about the new paladins.”

“Why?” Keith asked confused as he examined his own hands. “I don’t look anything like a Galra.”

“No,” Thace said with a shake of his head and took a deep breath. “But, you look do look like your mother.”

Keith went still. It had been ages since anyone mentioned that. He recalled neighbors and the odd stranger mentioning the resemblance when he and his mother were out together. The only people to have ever mentioned it was Shiro when Keith had shown him a photo of her.

Keith swallowed as his hands dropped into his lap. “Did you...know she died?”

Thace took a deep sigh. “I was suspicious of it,” he admitted. “She had told me she would tell you about me, but when it was clear you didn’t know, I had to assume something had happened.”

Keith chewed his bottom lip as his memories drifted back to when his mother was in the hospital. She had been so weak those last few days and there had so much she wanted to say.

“I think she tried to when she was in the hospital,” Keith replied softly, “but...she wasn’t exactly coherent in her last few days.”

Thace gave an understanding nod. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I had been there.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed as he felt a flash of anger. “Yeah, why weren’t you? Why did you just abandoned me and Mom?!”

“It’s complicated,” Thace explained.

“Try me,” Keith growled as he dug his fingers into his knees.

Thace shut his eyes in deep thought before he spoke. “I told you I crash landed on Earth when I managed to escape the attack on the rebel base, but what I didn’t mention was I landed not far from where your mother lived.”

Keith’s eyes widened slightly, but he gave a nod. His mother had lived in a small house that had belonged originally to his grandparents. It was outside the city limits and a far distance between actual neighbours. If Thace had crashed near there, barely anyone beside his mother would have seen it.

“She was alarmed about me at first, but eventually I convinced her I merely wish to repair my ship and leave,” Thace continued. “So, she let me hide at her house while I did so.”

He cleared his throat. “It took awhile to complete repairs and well..one thing lead to another and your mother and I fell in love.”

Keith straightened his posture as he prepared for his next question. “If you loved her, why did you leave her then?”

“I knew I had to return to the rebellion and I couldn’t drag your mother into it,” Thace explained. “I had planned to leave as soon as possible, but then you came along.”

Keith blinked. “What?”

“You were a ‘surprise’ to say the least. We had no idea that humans and Galran had the ability to reproduce,” Thace continued with a cough. “I didn’t dare leave your mother, especially since she refused to go see a doctor.”

Keith frowned. “Was it because I was part Galra?” It would confirm his suspicions of his mother’s reluctance of taking him to see a doctor as a child.

“Yes,” Thace replied as he folded his arms. “She was terrified of someone from the Garrison finding out and taking you away to study.” He gave a half smirk. “I will admit, we were both quite relieved to see you took after her when in appearance.”

Keith thought back to how the Garrison reacted to Shiro arriving back on Earth. They had been so desperate to keep that fact that him, Sam and Matt had been abducted by aliens in the first place. Yeah, he could understand his mother’s fear.

“Your birth had been difficult since your mother refused to go to a hospital,” Thace continued, “but she did it and I didn’t dare leave her side for a full Earth year.”

“You didn’t?” Keith said in a shaky voice.

“You are a hybrid and we weren’t certainly how healthy you would be.” Thace straightened his posture. “I wanted to be certain you would survive and that your mother would recover.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “So, it would be alright for you to leave?”

Thace paused and shook his head. “I..honestly didn’t want to. Truthfully, I seriously considered living out the rest of my life with you and your mother.” “Well, you clearly didn’t make that decision,” Keith said bitterly.

“No,” Thace said as he shook his head, “because your mother’s discovery of the Blue Lion changed all of that.”

Keith froze and his eyes widened. “What? Mom did?”

Thace nodded as he rose. “Your mother, she wasn’t quite certain how, but not long after you were born she felt something..some kind of energy calling out to her.”

Keith frowned as he shook his head in disbelief. “It was the Blue Lion wasn’t?”

Thace paused and blinked. “Yes...how did you know that?

“Because I’ve felt the same energy on Earth,” Keith explained. “It partly how we found the Blue Lion.”

“Ah,” Thace said slowly as his shoulders slumped. “Then you truly are your mother’s son.” His eyes soften. “Your mother and I traced the energy she was sensing to the cave where the Blue Lion was.” Thace took a deep sigh. “And it was that exact moment I knew I couldn’t stay.”

“Why?” Keith asked.

“Because I knew it was only a matter of time before Zarkon came to claim it, and when he did both you and your mother would be in danger.” He paused and as his hands tightened. “I couldn’t stay.”

“So, that’s it?” Keith asked as he tossed his hands up in the air. “You just took off and left.”

“Not quite,” Thace stated. “Truthfully, your mother and I had seriously considered you two coming with me.”

Keith opened and shut his mouth. “You two did?” So, he could have grown up in the resistance? Like those other alien children had.

“Yes, but in the end I left the decision up to your mother,” Thace explained, “and she decided that remaining on Earth would be the safest option for you.”

Keith swallowed, a million thoughts were rattling through his brain but he couldn’t focus on any of them right now. “So, you left us?”

Thace nodded. “I gave the dagger to your mother to give to you when you were old enough, and after our heartfelt goodbyes I went in my ship to return to the rebellion.”

His shoulders slumped. “I had hoped that Zarkon and his empire would be destroyed, and I could return to both of you, but I came to realize that was a fool’s dream.”

Taking down an empire that’s been ruling for ten thousand years? A bit yeah, Keith thought. Although, that is what we’re trying to do with Voltron, so guess we’re not that much different.

“Keith, are you alright?” Thace asked concerned.

The boy looked up and rubbed his eyes. “I..I don’t know, I mean” he rubbed his neck as he stood. “I’m grateful for the answers, but I...there’s a lot to take in.” He turned around to leave. “I need some time to think.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he glanced around to Thace.

“Before you go, there’s one thing I should tell you,” Thace said slowly.

Keith fidgeted and fiddled with his gloves. “What’s that?”

Thace sighed as his eyes soften. “It may not mean much, but please believe me when I say that leaving you was the hardest decision I ever had to make in my entire life.”

Keith wanted to say something in reply, but he was unable to find the words and could only nod before leaving the room. He wandered mindlessly down the hall until he reached his room and collapsed on the bed.

It was only then he realized he left his dagger behind, but he was in no mood to retrieve it now. He draped an arm over his eyes as he tried to not imagine on how he would tell Shiro and the others.

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Keith had felt so drained, and had tried to take a nap, but found he was unable to do so. He knew it wouldn’t be long until dinner which meant he would be seeing the others soon. Keith wasn’t sure how he could face them without everyone suspecting something was wrong, especially if Allura insisted Thace joined them.

Thus, Keith found himself wandering to the lab and was relieved to see Pidge by herself as she madly typed at her laptop. She vaguely glanced up, but then did a double take when she seem to clue in it was Keith.

“Oh..uh, hey?” she said with a wave. “How’s it going?”

Keith grimaced as he pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “It’s...going.”

Pidge’s hands stopped tapping and she crossed her legs over her chair. “You doing okay?” Pidge said in a hesitant tone as she adjusted her glasses.

Keith raised his head, uncertain if he was ready to discuss, but before he found the words leaving his mouth of their own freewill. “I talked to Thace.”

Pidge shut her eyes and removed her glasses to clean them as she turned around in her seat to face him. “And?”

Keith leaned against the table as he ran his hand through his hair. “I asked and..he confirmed my suspicions.” He suck the air through his teeth. “Thace is my dad, Pidge.”

Pidge was silent as she drummed her fingers against her knee. “I see.”

Keith pouted slightly at her. “You don’t look that shocked?”

Pidge choked and coughed to clear her throat. “Oh, uh why would I? I mean, you and I were both theorizing that could be the case, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Keith muttered as he straightened his posture. “You have a point there.”

Pidge let out a breath of air like she had been holding it in, and then inched closer to Keith. “And how are you taking this news?” She touched his shoulder. “Now that it’s official I mean?”

Keith massaged his forehead. “To be honest, I’m somewhere between relieved, shocked and some Hunk style freaking out.”

“Can’t exactly blame you there,” Pidge said as she leaned back, “but you know you’re still you, right? That hasn’t changed.”

Keith swallowed. “Yeah, I know.” He buried his face into his arms. “But I still don’t know how to tell the others.”

Pidge gave his arm a squeeze. “It’ll be fine, I already told you that, remember?” she said. “The guys will be shocked too, but it won’t be as bad as you think.”

That’s easy to say, but it’s hard to believe, Keith thought as he shook his head.

“I know I have to tell them,” Keith said slowly, “but I need some time to...process this.”

Pidge looked tempted to argue, but she gave nod. “Yeah, sure, but just don’t wait too long.” She tucked her hands into her lap. “Not to rush you, but the longer that Thace is on the ship the more Shiro is going to suspect something is up with you two.”

She poked his arm. “Also, the fact that you have Galra DNA will be useful to access Galra tech since it means we don’t have to use just Shiro’s arm all the time.”

Keith gave a slow nod. “I will, promise,” he said as he rose. “I’m going to sit in my room for a bit.”

“Okay, but I’m here if you need an ear to listen,” Pidge replied.

“I know,” Keith replied, “and it helps.”

He offered a small smile as he left and as his mind continued to struggle on what to do.

#voltron #thace #what if the storm ends?#vld #fanfic #galra keith #my writing

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