(~)

The castle was alive with music and laughter. Each of the Paladins were all dressed up for the occasion, which was a party in honor of their heroic deeds. Lance wore a tuxedo with a blue tie and gray undershirt. Hunk wore a similar one, only with a yellow tie and a green undershirt. Lance adjusted his tie and then the bow tie around Blue, who wore it with pride.

"Looking good, Blue! Hunk, doesn't he look good?"

"Sure, I guess. Though honestly, I think yellow's really rocking the headband." Hunk said, nodding to his lion, who now wore a similar headband as he was. The two started wide eyed when Pidge walked in, her orange hair fully down, wearing a thin strapped green dress with a sparkly black sleeveless jacket around her shoulders, and visible black tights underneath the dress, which was adorned with a few sparkles at the helm. She wore a pair on converse shoes, which surprisingly matched well with the outfit, and a single triangle shaped hair clip adorned the left side of her hair and a pair of dangling green earrings. She still wore her glasses, but they only enhanced her natural beauty. Her loyal green lion stood beside her and floating drone, Rover, hovered near her.

Lance was the first to speak. "Whoa, Pidge. You clean up good."

"Really? I feel like a Barbie doll wannabe."

"Oh, please. Barbie wishes she could pull that off." Allura said, beaming with pride while placing one hand on Pidge's shoulder, hugging her tightly.

The princes herself wore a dress, also that reached her knees. Pure white, with a pink waterfall open skirt over it, with a golden belt wrapped around her waist. The upper half of the dress was pink with a sweetheart neckline and with a transparent white fabric around her collarbone A pink cocker was around her neck, with a lovely rose clip, and long white sleeves that ended at her elbows with pink ruffles. She wore long white boots, with golden trims. Her hair was down, and wore her forehead tiara, but the back of her hair was adorned with pink roses. Red wore a royal looking collar with his Voltron pendant, and he wore it with visible pride.

Allura then noticed that there was somebody missing from their group. "Where are Keith and the Black Lion?"

"He's probably at balcony." Lance said, "He's still getting used to large crowds."

Allura proceeded to search for Keith at the balcony, just as Lance had said. Both he and Hunk fist pumped and Pidge only giggled, while rolling her eyes in amusement. Just as Lance said, Keith was at the castle balcony, overlooking the city, and the mountains up ahead. The Black Lion sat beside him, while Balto played with her tail. Her ears perked upwards when she saw the princess. Her and young Red nuzzled one another, and Keith turned around to see the princess standing before him. The winds caught in her silver hair, and the ends of her dress billowed in the soft breeze.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's just…I'm not used to being in a large room filled with people." he immediately caught himself, "N-Not that it's bad, or anything, it's just-"

"I get it." she said, walking up towards him and leaning against the railing beside him. "We did it."

"Heck yeah, we did. We saved the entire galaxy." Keith looked up at the sky, seeing the birds soaring above his head. His face fell for a moment. Allura reached out her hand and gripped it tightly.

"Shiro would be very proud of you." she said. "Him and your parents."

"Thanks." Keith placed his own hand over hers. "Your mother would be proud of you, too."

Allura blushed, shyly moving a stray hair over her pointed ear. "I'm really glad I met you."

The two stayed there for a moment, their hands together. Keith tried to think of something else to say, but he also came out empty. It didn't take long for him to realize that, while there would no doubt be more to talk about in the future, right now, the time for talking was over.

Keith turned to face the princess, still holding her hand, gazing into her eyes. They sparkled just as they did back at the cave and he caressed her cheek. Allura was lost in his indigo eyes, and just like back at the Balmara, the distance between them became smaller and smaller. Allura's hands reached out towards Keith's neck, pulling him in until their lips met. Their heads tilted a bit, deepening the kiss. Keith wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer and Allura's hands ran through his messy black hair. They parted for a brief moment for some air before kissing again. Keith's reached upwards, caressing Allura's silver hair.

The entire time, Keith felt lighter than air. Any fears he had in the past were now long ways behind him, being carried away like dust in the wind. Once they parted, their foreheads pressed together, both smiling, their cheeks bright red. Allura kept her arms around Keith's shoulder, and he kept his arms around her waist. He never imagined anything like this would ever happen to him. For the first time in his life, people didn't look at Keith was a freak or a monster, but a hero. His biological father had turned out to have always held a place for Keith in his heart, he now had a loyal new companion in the Black Lion, who he was happy to welcome into his family, and now, he had his heart stolen by the most amazing woman he had ever met.

"So…does this mean we're dating now?" Keith asked innocently, which only made Allura giggled. He could listen to her laugh all day.

"It's a good thing you're cute." she said, kissing his lips once more. Right there was his answer.

"Finally!"

The two immediately separated when Lance showed up. Keith groaned in annoyance. "Seriously, Lance?"

"Alright, move it Martinez!" Pidge exclaimed in annoyance and pushed him back inside, with Hunk helping her. "Give these two some space!"

Hunk poked his head out once more. "As you were!" he said before zipping away.

Despite the moment being, semi-interrupted, the two laughed at the silliness of their friends. "Those guys are dorks." Keith said.

"Yes. But, they're our dorks." Allura said, making Keith laugh. She held his hand. "So, you want to go back to the party, or stay here a bit longer?"

"Well, I do owe you a dance."

"Waist, since when?"

"Since now." Keith boldly cupped Allura's cheek and kissed her once again. The princess melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck in the process. They parted, still smiling like they were on top of the world and entered the ballroom, hand in hand.

The two walked down the stairs, seeing everyone happily chatting. As Keith and Allura walked by, many of the Garrison students greeted Keith happily, even shaking his hand and showering him with praises. One student, in particular, was Rolo. He stood in front of Keith, not saying a word. His face was stone cold…right before softening, showing visible signs of regret. Rolo offered Keith his hand in apology.

"I'm sorry. I was wrong about you, Keith."

Keith blinked in surprise and firmly shook his hand, smiling in return. "No worries." he said. Rolo bowed to the princess before getting back to his friends. It would definitely take Keith a while to get used to not being called "Galra-trash", but he had a hunch he would adjust rather quickly.

The couple was then greeted by King Alfor, Coran and Thace. The Galra had managed to socialize with the people of Altea rather well, and Pidge was happily chatting with her parents and older brother Matt before walking over to the others, where Lance and Hunk quickly joined them.

"There are no words to describe how grateful I am to all of you." King Alfor said, especially to his daughter. "Allura, I'm sorry for being so hard on you before. You have proven that you are indeed a capable fighter and a skilled pilot." he placed a hand on her shoulder and kissed her forehead. "I am so proud of you." he then turned to Keith, "And you, young man." at first Keith was a bit scared about what he would say. To his relief, and surprise, the King hugged him. Once he finished, he ruffled Keith's hair.

"Job well done."

"Well, looks like we won't have to worry about anymore Galra causing trouble." Lance said. His eyes widened once he was reminded that Thace was still present. "Uh, no offense!"

"It's alright, kid." Thace expression then became serious.

Keith took notice of this. "Dad? What's wrong?"

"Zarkon's reign may be over, but I'm afraid not every Galra secretly rebelled against him. Not to mention, Zarkon had allies all across the galaxy. Our species wasn't the only kind causing trouble. After ten thousand years, there is still the aftermath to think about."

"Well, these guys can't be nearly as bad as Zarkon." Pidge said, folding her arms while smiling smugly.

"Perhaps not, but they can be just as dangerous. And with the Galra technology is still around, chances are others will find it and take advantage of it. You kids may have won the war, but there are still many more battles to fight."

"He's right." said Coran, "Good thing you paladins know what you're doing. Because you may need to form Voltron again and again."

"Wait, what?" Hunk asked in disbelief.

"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time!" Lance said.

"Oh, and that was just one Galra Central Command. Wait until you see what the rest of the Galaxy has in store! Yes, it's not going to be easy being defenders of the universe."

The paladins all turned to one another, their lions smiling in agreement. Keith smirked as he petted his lion's head. "Defenders of the universe, huh? It's got a nice ring to it."

(~)

After the party was over, the paladins all went home to their respected families, and lions. Keith and Allura shared a kiss goodbye before he and Thace left to head back to the shack. Thace was more than happy to be sharing this small home with his son, and was very happy to see a hover bike. He promised he would show Keith how a Galra really flew a bike. Balto accepted Thace wholeheartedly, the older Galra laughed when the coyote pup licked his face. For the first time in his life, Thace felt he had finally found his home.

As for Keith, he gazed out into the horizon, feeling the wind in his hair. He pulled out his blade, the sun reflecting off of its surface, while the Black Lion stood proudly beside him. Keith no longer wore any jacket to cover his Galra arms. Now, he wore them out in the open. Unafraid of his Galra half. As he looked up into the sky, Keith saw a black and white eagle, soaring in the sky, cawing out, as if to him. It felt as if Shiro was right there with him, even more so with the Black Lion. She shared the same courage and compassion as Shiro did, and he knew she would protect him just as much as he will protect her.

Whenever danger aroused, whenever a planet was in danger, or some past Galra threat arose, the five lions would change into their robotic forms, and their beloved paladins would ride them across the galaxy to far off places, meeting new friends, experiencing new adventures, and with each passing day, their friendships grew stronger and stronger. What seemed like a bunch of kids who wouldn't amount to much except being three simple space cadets, a princess copped up in a palace, and a hybrid outside, became the universe's new galactic heroes.

All by following the Voice that revealed to them exactly who they needed to be, and who they were deep inside.

And thus, as the lions soared out into space once more, ready to combine into the legendary hero again, the paladins all knew without a shadow of a doubt, that from here on out, there was nowhere else to go…

But farther, and farther.

See the lions as they light up the sky

They call me

At last I know

That I can go

It's the voice of truth and it's roaring inside me

Now I know

How fall I'll go!

The End

(~)

Well, that's the end of this story. Just like my Miraculous Ladybug story, I'm leaving this an open ending, so while it may technically end here, you guys can imagine what kind of adventures happened next.

Well, now that I'm done with this, I will be getting back to my original novel. It's been fun, and thanks for sticking with this story until the end.

(Btw, this is not me saying goodbye, I'm just saying I'm done with this specific fanfic. Don't take the words out of context, please).

From now own, my fanfic to-do list will be shortened from here on out, with only one more I'll be co-writing with a friend of mine, but that's about it. The majority of my time will be dedicated to my novel.

Thanks again, God bless *kiss kiss*.