Summary: The Generals find their endgame. Half of Team Voltron must escape an alternate dimension.

ARC VI: The Comet

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Two Roads Diverged (II)

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"You..." Allura shared a panicked, wide eyed look with Hunk, before she looked back at Shiro—Ryou, she corrected. "You look like someone I know. Knew." She coughed. "Someone that we knew."

"Knew?" Ryou repeated, brow furrowing in a way that was so painfully familiar Allura nearly had to blink back tears.

She quickly cleared her throat. "I am Princess Allura, of Altea. This is my friend, Hunk, a fellow paladin of Voltron."

The one with shaggy hair, Akira, scoffed. "Voltron is just a children's tale. How can you be paladins?"

The ganglier one, Isamu, gave him an incredulous look. "You believe in energies of the universe, what do you mean—"

Ryou held up his hand—gods, it was strange to see them both made of flesh—and the boys quieted. "Tsuyoshi, Hiroshi," he ordered, and the largest and smallest of his team instead snapped to attention, "I want you running coordinates and then you're going to take a look at their ships. Clearly, these two are stranded and disorientated, wherever they came from. It's our duty to help however we can."

Akira frowned. "Ryou, are you sure that's smart? We don't know who these people are." Even the tiny skull badge on his jacket seemed to bristle, all their outfits torn and made out of a hodgepodge of fabrics and patterns.

Ryou rolled his grey eyes, the way an older, more done Shiro may have. "Akira, just listen."

That only seemed to incense the young man further. "Ryou, just because she looks like our—"

Hiroshi got on his tiptoes and smacked him upside the head. "Can it, laser-brain."

"Uh, Mister Ryou, sir?" said Hunk, raising his hand. "Can we check on our Lions ourselves, too? We're kinda connected to 'em."

"Go ahead," Ryou replied with a slight smile. "Hunk, right?"

Hunk sheepishly grinned back. "Yes, sir."

Whoever this man was, it seemed he had spades of Shiro's disposition, too. Allura's heart lurched. Lucky for them, honestly. Not just anyone would be so helpful and forthcoming. As Ryou directed the rest of his team out, Tsuyoshi and Hiroshi leaving to go run coordinates, and it seemed that Akira and Isamu were on something called "shift duty" he turned back just in time as she approached him. Each member disappeared behind the same doors that had to be opened manually, dragging the metal slab that counted as a door to the side, instead of sliding and closing naturally. Interesting and old.

"Do you have a question for me, Your Highness?" he asked, looking her up and down. Allura took off her paladin helmet and tucked it under her arm.

"I do," she said. "I don't quite know how we got here. I was with my team and we were helping to... harvest a comet. Our two Lions had latched onto it but in the commotion—there was a bright flash and we ended up here, our Lions sorely depleted. It's true, of course, it could have just been a wormhole and launched us somewhere else in the galaxy—you do have wormhole transportation here?"

"We do," Ryou confirmed as Hunk made his way over to Yellow. The beast's blue eyes flickered slightly under his hands on her maw. Ryou's face soured. "But only the rich can afford it."

"We are not wealthy," Allura said, as though it mattered. "Our Lions and a single ship is all we have."

Ryou eyed her. "And your circlet?"

Now made visible without her helmet. Allura's fingers tightened under the helm. "A family heirloom," she explained, suddenly self conscious. These people—humanoids?—weren't... thieves, were they? It would explain their clothing, the size of their rough around the edges ship, but... this man wasn't Shiro, she reminded herself. She had no way of knowing what he was and wasn't capable of.

He nodded. "Unfortunately we didn't see you enter this quadrant. Hiroshi was overlooking the scanners and just reported a sudden swell of energy in the system. By the time we whirred over whatever brought you here was gone as though it had never been here at all, your ships dark." He paused and rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. "I hope the tractor beam didn't scare you?"

Allura smiled without thinking. It was so easy. "It was disconcerting," she admitted, "but I hold no ill will."

Ryou smiled back at her before they both looked away and he let out a little cough. "Either way, you're in the Fala Vector-6 Quadrant—"

She blinked, her brow furrowing. "Where?"

"Vector-6 of the Fala System?" Ryou repeated, looking as confused as she felt.

Hunk wandered over from Yellow to her side. "That's..." He exchanged a look with Allura. "That's not a System."

Ryou frowned. "Yes, it is? It's large and well known and—where are you from?"

"Uh..." Hunk swallowed. "Earth? Or planet Terra? The Milky Way?"

"Well obviously you're descended from Terra," Ryou persisted, "like us, but you can't have come from it. What space station were you born at?"

"What do you mean? I was born on Earth—I mean, Terra."

Ryou stared at him, wide eyed. "That's impossible," he said softly. "And..." He looked to Allura. "Your Altea?"

Something clicked into place. The comet for travelling into different dimensions. The blinding light. "Mine fell over 10,000 years ago."

Ryou blanched and reached up, pressing the earpiece nestled in his ear. "Team, report to the main lounge. We have a problem on our hands."

Keith had always thought he'd done well under pressure. Instructors had often breathed down his neck at the Garrison and his grades outside of piloting class had been passable. He'd loved the thrill of the dive bomb of his bike, before catching the air currents and engine at just the right moment not to smash into a million pieces. But now, he thought, perhaps he had only loved pressure when he hadn't cared about the outcomes, or when it was self inflicted because this—his dark hair stuck to his cheeks from cold, panicky sweat. He swallowed hard as Red spun out of control before he gripped the joysticks and tried to haul her back on check, their bond spiking in his mind. She couldn't take much more of this. Neither could he.

This would be hard enough but doable if they didn't also have the Blades firing on them and Lotor in equal measure. He thought the one defining feature about family was that you didn't try to kill each other, but apparently that meant nothing to Mister High and Mighty Kolivan. (Oh God, he was staring to sound like Lance, too.)

"Lance!" he yelled, trying to put down another layer of cover fire. "What's taking you and Pidge so long?"

"Extraction is harder than it looks!" Pidge puffed irritably, the Green Lion latched onto the comet again. Rationally Keith knew it hadn't been long, but every moment that Pidge stayed there and Lance focused on watching their back made his insides twist. The Blue Paladin was talented but couldn't single handedly stave off Lotor forever, and his two teammates were still so close to the comet. They'd already lost Hunk and Allura to a stray comet hit and they'd disappeared who knows where. If he lost Pidge and Lance too — if he was alone, again —

"Keith, focus!" Coran scolded, and the Red Lion swerved just in time to avoid a laser beam from one of the Blade's as the Castleship fired one back.

Heart rattling in his chest, Keith took a deep breath. Shiro's voice rang in his head. Patience yields focus.

Keith raised his head and pushed his hair away from his eyes, his gaze hard as he looked out onto the battlefield. "Coran, can you handle the Blades on your own?" They needed time, enough time for Pidge to collect at least two chunks of the comet instead of one—one for Allura and Hunk and one for Shiro—and the situation was shaky at best with Lotor continually firing his sincline, using the comet and paladins as sheilds for his ship in equal measure. "I think it's time I give Lotor a real fight!"

"I'll watch your back, Keith," Coran promised, and Red's back engines fired up before she flew forwards.

She slammed into Lotor's ship, braced for the blow, and Keith saw Lance grin over the holocom before they each readied their Lions. "Take your time, Pidge," Keith called over. "We'll make sure you have it."

"This makes no sense," said Isamu, his thin face further pinched by confusion.

They'd settled in the ship's larger main lounge, which was in as rough shape as everything else: a collection of boxes, beat up sofa looking things, and chairs with a table that had wires and dirty plates on it. The team had gathered around it, with Hiroshi and Tsuyoshi squeezed into an armchair together to let Hunk sit, which he was grateful for. Allura seemed too anxious to stop standing. Ryou just stood and waited for his fellows' reactions, arms crossed over his chest in such a Shiro way that it made Hunk's already sunken heart sink lower. He was a crier, but he couldn't cry now. Even if he was basically looking at his long lost leader and friend. If they were in another dimension, how were they supposed to get home with just a damaged piece of the comet and their lions with no way to recharge besides time, which they didn't have?

"The math has always been possible," said Hiroshi, some slicked back hair falling over in front of his eyes.

"We've seen some crazy things the past few years—like those girls from Bargael—" Isamu grinned slyly until Akira socked him in the shoulder. "Ow! But like, inter-dimensional travel? Whole new level of weird."

Tsuyoshi raised his hand. "D'you want Gunderson to explain the math to you?" he said, and Hiroshi perked up, looking eager. Hunk almost smiled. Looks like Pidge's fake surname was a nickname in this world, too; he'd have to tell them once he and Allura returned. If they returned.

"Boys," Ryou cut through, "focus. You heard the princess. Her Altea fell over 10,000 years ago. Ours feel a decade ago. Terra still exists in their dimensions. Ours..." He pursed his lips. "Is dust. They weren't born in spaceships like us and they somehow have Lions of Voltron. The only thing that seems to be the same is that we're both at war with the Galra Empire, who are colonizing planets for more quintessence to fuel their ships and their lives." When Akira and Isamu exchanged doubtful looks, Ryou sighed and added, "It's not as though Allura is a common name, either."

It was then that the boys' gazes drifted to her, and Hunk saw her squirm a little, even if she quickly composed herself. "You know an Allura here?" she said, and gestured between him and Tsuyoshi. "My... counterpart?"

The boys all looked at Ryou, who'd gone rather stony faced, but Hunk could read him all the same, because it was the same look Allura had whenever anyone brought up Shiro. "Our... Princess Allura died four years ago," Tsuyoshi answered quietly. "We were trying to help some Altean refugees, and we did, but..."

Allura placed a hand on Tsuyoshi's arm. "That's enough," she said kindly with a smile, and Ryou seemed stricken when he looked at her. "But thank you for answering, Tsuyoshi. Hunk and I also know how hard it can be to lose a treasured friend and teammate." She straightened up with resolve even if her softness didn't entirely fade. "That's why we have to get home to the rest of our team. We have a piece of the comet that sent us here, but I don't think we'll be able to use it or survive the journey until our Lions are powered up. Is there a planet nearby with iko crystals?" she asked Ryou, who had smoothed over his features again.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, unfolding one arm. "But we may also have a different name for it."

"But didn't we only need the iko crystal when Black was shut down?" Hunk remembered and both leaders turned to him. He tried to concentrate and shake off the feelings of deja vu. "Black and Yellow aren't that far gone, they're just tired. Allura, you're connected to all the Lions. They probably just need to be keyed up with quintessence and you can help transfer it to them. Then we can fire on the comet piece and fly through another portal and recharge again once we're home."

"There's a quintessence plantation not far from here," said Ryou. Hiroshi passed him a holopad and he pulled up a blue diagram that was a little fuzzy around the corners. "Equox. We'd been helping to smuggle people in and out for a while now. We could take you into the supply lines and travel on foot to one of the Quintessence towers, bring some vats back, and then send you back home."

For a moment, Hunk worried Allura wouldn't accept it. That she would look at a team and a man so like their own and lost leader and refuse out of fear, or offer to step back due to the risk. But she simply nodded and squared her shoulders. "Thank you. I know this is not easy. Once our Lions are powered up, if there's anything we can do to help you in turn, we will do so."

Ryou smiled. "Thank you, princess." He turned to the rest of his team as Akira frowned. "Now rest up. We're heading out for Equox in the morning."

"I thought you had this thing decoded," said Zethrid, giving Sendak's discarded arm on the floor an irritated kick. Their ship was old, and Druid built ages ago, so it still had some Altean arches, a deck, with tech boards lower and automatic doors at the back. Zethrid was leaning over Ezor's chair as the general typed rapidly, her yellowed brow creased.

Ezor raised her head from her holopad, her phlaranx bouncing. "I do," she said pointedly. "But if we're going to try and do a wormhole jump, we only have enough of Merla's quintessence left over to charge the ship for one of 'em." By far the best side effect of technically being in an Altean ship, even if Acxa could feel it chill her blood sometimes, too. The Galra had never quite been able to get over how they had been used for Voltron—even if she knew the Druids had done far worse since then.

"We need to double check the coordinates are correct," Acxa reiterated, her arms crossed over her chest as the surveyed their ship's cockpit. "Or we'll use our one jump and not be able to have another." And not only would they be out of power, but they'd be out of quintessence, too, period, which didn't bode well for a number of reasons. Her wrist pulsed, veins flickering white, and she flexed it uncomfortably, catching Narti standing off to the side as she did so. "You'll wait till I give the order," she said, looking as Ezor and Zethrid bickered for a moment more before she made her way over to her friend.

"Hey," she signed and Narti lifted her head. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Narti replied with her hands and letting her consciousness brush Acxa's. Warm flooded the link and she knew it was true. "Just... I do not know if this is all wise."

Acxa didn't speak as she signed back, as this wasn't a conversation for the other two, clearly, nor did she think she would speak without letting her voice rise. "What? Why would you say that?"

"The princess has been gone for six hundred years. We do not know what we were walking into. What we are awakening."

Acxa glared but stopped, softening as Kova wove around her ankles before leaping up to rest on Narti's shoulder. Acxa breathed. "It's Merla. Either we find her first or her brother does, and Lotor will not be pleased once he knows—"

"If we use up our quintessence supply, we will die," Narti signed tartly, her frown deepening. "It is not too late to join the prince in battle and lie about our whereabouts. Say we were captured and reload our quintessence so we can try again under safer circumstances."

"If we don't go within the day, we will lose the coordinates signal entirely, and Merla will disappear for another six hundred years. Is that what you want? Lotor needs to—"

Narti couldn't roll nonexistent eyes but Acxa thought she would have if she was able. "And you think the princess will trust us?"

"Yes," Acxa emphasized. "But she won't if she knows we've gone back to Lotor, and need to see her first before we can return." She sighed when she felt the mind link ebb away, Narti shutting it off temporarily—or at least not having it turned on entirely, like usual.

"Fine," Narti signed in between clench of her fists. "I will go along with whatever you think is right, but I hope you know what you are doing Acxa." Kova glanced down at her wrist. Both of their veins flashed white with warning; their bodies would need another dosage sooner rather than later. "For all of our sakes."

Equox was hotter than Allura had expected, the sun glaring down as they landed, the rusty ship drifting down in between massive, green, leafy trees that provided more than enough cover. The quintessence tower in the distance cut a grey spire through the otherwise blue and sunny sky, and one pale pink moon visible at all times. Ryou asked if she was ready and offered her a water flask before they headed out together. It would be easier, he'd explained, if the two of them went alone, with the rest of the team scouting around for any possible issues and back with the ship. Hunk would stay with the Lions.

Ryou didn't look at her as they walked on ahead towards the spire and Allura tried not to look at him, strange birds squawking overhead; the forest surrounding them sounded largely like any other. She'd still only garnered bits and pieces from his team, in the few hours it had taken to fly here. Each of the crew were from a different spaceship except for Isamu and Tsuyoshi. Akira wasn't half-Galra, either, but wasn't sure of his bloodline, and him and Ryou weren't cousins. The giant spaceships full of Terran refugees was all that was left of what she and Hunk called Earth, perhaps 600 years past their present technology, and felled by the Galra Empire long before Altea had, too. By Empress Merla.

"She murdered her own father for the throne," Ryou had explained over cups of grey gruel Tsuyoshi had rationed out for her and Hunk. "It led to a bloody civil war but eventually she was victorious and continued to conquer the universe. Altea was a small planet but it, like Terra, refused to quell its rebellions, so it was destroyed."

"Our Zarkon is dead," said Hunk. Allura had no guesses as to what Merla was up to since she'd escaped the sealed pod in the weblum's stomach (thanks to Allura herself). "But the Galran Kral Zera hasn't happened yet, so we don't know who is successor will be. Probably General Sendak or his son, Prince Lotor, if the Blades of Marmora—Galra resistance fighters—haven't dealt with them."

Allura had watched Ryou file the information away with a crease in his brow. "Prince Lotor died centuries ago, so I cannot speak of him. We do have a Galra resistance force, but they're the Guns of Gamora."

"And the blue sigil you put on your ship?" Allura asked. It'd been a blue rune that looked vaguely Altean, although not like any she'd seen.

"Glows white under alchemy," Ryou said with a soft smile. "The blue banner of the White Lion, resistance fighters in the name for Altea. It was Allura's..." He'd swallowed and sobered. "We all joined up properly, after she passed."

It'd made her feel rather cold, but now Allura just felt hot, as she reached up and took off her helmet, the surface pink. She tucked it under her arm and swiped a hand over the sweaty nape of her neck, her hair pinned up in her bun, before she caught Ryou looking at her. He gestured to her helmet. "I'm sorry I didn't see the cracked visor before hand," he apologized. "I could have had Tsuyoshi repair it."

"No," she said quickly and he blinked. "No, it's alright," she elaborated. "The crack is a... foolish keepsake, perhaps. From—Shiro."

She knew Ryou remembered she'd called him that less than a day ago as he nodded. "Is that the friend you lost?" he asked kindly.

Allura nodded, a lump in her throat. "You look very much like him."

"My surname is Shirogane," Ryou acknowledged. "And Allura was not our princess' true name. That was Rumiko, but when her planet fell, and she ended up in hiding, a new identity was a necessity. It was taken in honour of the Altean goddess of rebirth and renewal."

The excited look in Ryou's eyes was endearingly familiar. Shiro had always wanted to learn as much about the galaxy and all its cultures and mythologies as possible. An earthling born for the stars. "A minor goddess in my own culture, maybe." Perhaps this was a younger Altea with a wider pantheon, or an older one that had more time to grow. "We mostly worship the twin moons, Celeste and Luna."

"It's funny, how different our dimensions are," Ryou remarked. The excited look faded as his eyes fell on the cracked visor. "And how indifferent."

When would she ever have a chance for a conversation like this, again? Even if they had no time for it. Allura pushed on, although she allowed herself to say, "The two of us were never meant to be happy again, were we?" She glanced at him next as they kept on walking, the corners of his lips twitching in something that could've been a smile or a grimace in equal measure.

"No," he agreed. "We're not."

Allura stopped walking. "You loved her?"

Ryou stopped too and looked at her. "Yes," he said quietly. "And you loved your Shiro?"

"Very much," she said, her voice thick.

"Our goddess, Allura, has many myths attached to her name. It is said that all realities and possibilities flow through her veins of starlight. That a shooting star is a stranger's wish happening, if not in this life then in the next. Or, perhaps," he inclined his head towards her, "in another real dimension."

The lump in Allura's throat lessened at the thought that perhaps, somewhere, there was a universe where things worked out between them. She could see the real hope for regarding it, too, in his eyes, reflecting back at her. "My Shiro died bravely in battle," she said softly. "Fighting for my—our, cause. I like to think he is still smiling down on us. Even if I did not expect you."

"Rumiko had similar beliefs," Ryou revealed, voice soft with nostalgia. Allura watched and waited. Her existence here now, in this dimension, was a miracle for him just as much as he was for her. "The boys and I were already leaning towards being rebels," Ryou elaborated. "Rather than just smugglers, but Rumiko needed our help and from there she drew us more into the cause. She was the bravest person I've ever met." Ryou pressed his lips together. "We saved the refugees, that day, but I couldn't save her. Since then, we've been fighting in the war full time, trying to honour her. She was a hero. Is a hero. She gave me hope when I had none—I just wish I could make good on it."

It sounded more like a scorned statement of unfulfilled purpose than a lament, so Allura asked, "What do you mean?"

"She believed her ancestors had hidden the five Lions of Voltron in the deepest corners of the galaxy and they were the key to ending the war, but it always seemed to be a children's tale. These past few years, I was starting to think that maybe she was..."

The corners of Allura's mouth curved upwards. "Unfortunately wrong and incredibly optimistic?"

Ryou lightened. "That is one way of putting it. But if they are real in your universe, then perhaps she and those shooting stars were right." He looked at her and smiled wide. "Thank you, for restoring hope to me."

The tightness in her chest ebbed. This version of Shiro, in some ways, and her, his Rumiko in others, could at least part ways as friends again. They could have a proper goodbye this time. "It is the least I can do," she said with just a trace of stubbornness, "since you're getting me home."

Ryou gestured ahead of him. "After you, princess," he said, and they resumed walking.

Haggar knew that it was rare that her son was far enough to escape her sight and trace of her magic, but that made it all the more irritating when it happened. It had moved past annoyance to concern when she couldn't get through to his sincline's commlink, either. What was going on? It wasn't like him not to answer her calls, and when he didn't, she could at least narrow down his signal. What could be jarring the communication? She knew he'd sent his four pet generals off on some kind of mission and had gone off himself, but—

She couldn't help but worry. Especially when she had something so important to tell him, and wanted to before it was publicly declared. The inner sanctum of Zadai and her fellow druids who had aided her had been fiercely sworn to secrecy. She had been truthful when telling Lotor why she didn't want him taking the throne; one attempt on his life was more than enough. Announcing Zarkon's miraculous resurrection at her hands would be futile when he was still weak. Her beloved needed time to adjust to life again and to regain his strength.

Zarkon's survival had presented the perfect path forward. He would reclaim his reign and reassert his dominance at the Kral Zera. Sendak and Lotor would kneel, loyal, and the Empire could get under way. Lotor would be safe in at the Southern Faction and continue to oversee his mining projects. Deplete more planets for quintessence before moving onto the next one. The break in at Pollux was troubling and so was the loss of the brat's special quintessence, but if the whispers of Merla's resurgence was true... Well, Haggar could take matters into her own hands if she needed, her favourite druid, Tamlin, too.

Was it worth consulting a seer? If she went to Zarkon with her concerns, he'd placate her, but probably wouldn't have a solution. Reassure her that her son was capable and strong (and Lotor was). Ask after his favourite general. But Haggar couldn't lose a family member again. Not Zarkon and not Lotor. Not her beloved and her precious son.

If Voltron and Allura had taken them from her again... Haggar would have to prepared to meet her in battle again, someday, and the princess would not take her by surprise.

Perhaps it was time to visit Pollux for a brief interval after all. One could always use a weapons upgrade.

Getting into the outpost tower was easier than Allura believed possible. Ryou told her minutes before they reached the looming spire that he had a man on the inside, an alien with tentacle trunks, who was used to smuggling things through. The actual quintessence mines and plantation stretched out on the other side of the spire, fenced in by electric barbed wire and the local population, it seemed, working inside with a few Galra and their own overseeing everything. She got waved inside along with Ryou with little fuss, her helmet pulled back on to obscure her face just in case. The alien gave her an odd look at her clean and sleek attire, but let her through and Ryou led her down hallways with the highest ceilings she'd ever seen and shelves of quintessence stored in cubes that glowed blue rather than yellow. A dimensional difference, maybe?

Each of them can only carry a few of the cubes, the issue bulk rather than weight. Right when Allura was wondering if she could get away with shapeshifting and elongating her arms to carry more, Ryou produced a security card from his pocket and held it between two fingers. "Let us get a speeder to bring these back," he said with a grin, leading her down another hallway.

"How did you get one of those?" she asked. Was this Shiro a genius pickpocket turned pirate turned rebel, swiping it from his man on the inside without her even noticing?

"Not that talented," he amended, catching her thought process, even dimensions and lifetimes apart. "It's a very convincing forgery Tsuyoshi and Hiroshi whipped up."

She smiled as he placed it next to a holopad and the adjourning door crunched open. The room was dark as he selected a small, sleek speeder and they headed back to grab more quintessence to load. The speeder had a back railing and would be able to carry at least thirty cubes—fifteen for each Lion, maybe sixteen for Black if need be—as they piled the cubes on top of each other.

"In our universe," Allura said, "their names are Hunk and Pidge, and they're geniuses with tech as well."

"I'm afraid our ship is just as big as the Lions," he grinned, "but nowhere near as sentient. Is it true that you're connected to them?"

Allura nodded as they loaded up the last of the quintessence cubes and Ryou steered the speeder out and into the hall, letting the door close behind him. "My father bound my life force to them. The final Lion, Shiro's—and now mine—especially had to be protected at all costs. She could only been awakened by having her four sisters around her... myself included. But I have always been gifted with strong quintessence ever since I was a young girl."

"I may have found the way for you to repay me, then," Ryou said helping her onto the speeder with a brush of their hands. The shock that went up her arm was almost familiar, even if it was still off. "If you want to offer help in a more practical way?"

A wave of hot air rushed at them when they exited the outpost now back under the glare of the sun. "What is it?"

"Is there any alchemy you could teach me? I'm half Altean on my father's side, Rumiko was teaching me, but by the time we knew of my heritage, she hadn't time to teach me much. If you know anything about healing?" he said hopefully.

"I know some things," Allura said. "But mostly I was taught how to heal planets and places rather than people." A diplomatic field over a hands on healer, as expected of a princess. "I suppose it can't be too different in theory, though. I would be happy to write some things down, for how to guide the energy through your body properly, before we go?"

Ryou smiled. "That would be great. Thank you, Allura."

Their hidden cruiser was within sight when things went south. Ryou made the speeder careen around a dense cluster of trees and they were straightened out when blaster fire hit their back engine and sent the speeder spinning. He grabbed at the controls and yanked them back in order while Allura caught a few cubes of quintessence that threatened to go over the railing. She clutched the cubes to her chest and raised her head. Another speeder was chasing them, two Galra in armour different than the ones in her dimension wore but still purple and angular, guns aimed while another steered. Their cover and theft had been discovered. Quiznak.

Allura set the cubes down and summoned her bayard to her hand, Hunk's adjustments having worked perfectly. She willed her shield up next, blaster fire bouncing off the blue surface as the protected the cubes at the back of their speeder, but it didn't stop smoke rising from their damaged engine.

"We have enough fuel to make it back," Ryou assured her, increasing their speed.

Thank the stars something was going their way. "I'll alert Hunk that we're coming in hot," she said, pressing her free hand to her comm. "Hunk?"

He answered quickly. "Here, princess."

"Get the team down in front of the ship. We might need help bringing the quintessence into the ship." She couldn't remember whether the cruiser's ramp and main loading deck would be big enough for the speeder to zoom right in or that a bumpy landing wouldn't spoil the quintessence if another engine got blown. They might have to stop and manually carry the quintessence up into the ship itself and they would need everyone's help to do so successfully. At the very least it would be safer cargo wise, even if it was also time consuming. "Are we going to need to carry the quintessence in?" she barked, raising her shield a little higher.

"Ordinary quintessence, no," Ryou called back. "But this is raw quint—can't risk it."

Now this felt more like her usual luck.

They hit the ground running when Ryou brought the speeder to a grinding halt. Allura kept her shield up as Ryou gathered a good five bulky cubes into his arm and she covered his back as he ran towards the descending ramp. Akira notched a rifle over his shoulder and stared firing back at the attacking Galra while Isamu, Hiroshi, and Tsuyoshi ran down to gather more as well. Allura tried to expand her shield to cover more of them with little success. A red light at the tip of the spire in the distance blared: a proper alarm. They would have a lot more Galra to deal with soon.

"Don't worry about us, princess," said Isamu, grinning over the pile of quintessence in his arms. "Go!"

"I'll cover you," said Hunk, helmet on and bayard raised. It shifted to a gun with an expertly shot laser beam, nailing one Galra in the head even as their speeder continued approaching. Allura watched in horror when the Galra simply got up again with a smoking hole in their helmet, revealing sickly skin and red eyes, like something Lance had described once: a zombie. "Ah—" Hunk yelled and broke off into a nervous chuckle, although his gun stayed steady. "I don't like that—" A Galra zombie, so infused with quintessence they couldn't die. Skin scrawling, she let Hunk throw up a shield next as she bent down to scoop up more cubes.

No wonder this dimension's rebellion was still by and large a fledgling one. The fact that they did not have a Voltron to rally around didn't help matters either.

She passed by Ryou on his way down as she ran up the ramp, setting down the cubes of quintessence on the floor before rushing back down for more. Akira was struggling to get a good enough angle from where he was crouched by the ship, his eyes narrowed and yellowed (from whatever non-Terran heritage he did have, it seemed).

"Your crew seems very used to narrow escapes," Allura quipped, as she and Ryou ran up the ramp again, side by side with most of the boys following, Hunk still guarding the rear. There was maybe a couple armful of cubes left. When she and Ryou went back down, that would be it.

"They're good at working under pressure," Ryou replied with a smirk. Allura ducked her head, checking once to see if the Galras in the speeder had taken aim. One fell off as Akira finally got a hit, the speeder whirring closer, but Allura would take it. She and Ryou gathered the last of the quintessence cubes in their arms and they sprinted for the ship; there was no time for a shield as Hunk had fallen back to help protect the others. They would just have to make a run for it.

She was turning to step onto the ramp when he shouted her name and shoved her. Allura was sent sprawling, the quintessence cubes tumbling out of her arms. One cracked when it hit the ground and started leaking, blue oozing out onto the ground and making glowing flowers rise from the dirt. Frustration and panic seized her in equal measure as she pushed herself up, hands braced in the dirt as she looked back. Ryou had fallen too, although none of his quintessence seemed to have been cracked—but that paled in comparison to the smoking wound in his side, framed by singed jacket fabric. He had a hand clamped over the injury but blood leaked between his fingers, his face paling.

"No—" Allura crawled towards him, an anxious looking Hunk running in to give the cover fire he couldn't before. "Ryou—" Takashi burned in her mouth. "No, no—" She hauled him into her lap, hands cupping his face as tears streaked her own. If blaster fire was this strong, and they'd gotten her square in the back or a weak spot in her armour, the wound would've been her own. "Why would you do that?"

Ryou placed hand over one she had on his face and mustered up a weak smile. "I couldn't watch you die, again," he said hoarsely.

Choking back a sob, Allura rocked forwards and rested her forehead against hers. "I can't watch you die again, either," she whispered.

"Ryou!" Akira had joined them now, by her shoulder, and she helped him get Ryou to his feet, an arm slung over each of their shoulders. Hunk covered their backs as they helped Ryou limp up the ramp, blood trailing down his side. Isamu, Hiroshi, and Tsuyoshi scrambled to collect the fallen quintessence, and it was one last ring of blaster fire as Hunk boarded the ship, too, that the ramp was closed and Akira got the engines going.

Allura's heart didn't feel any lighter as they jetted off from the planet, quickly gaining altitude. Akira had gone to put the ship on autopilot and Isamu to get a first aid kit, but Hiroshi was pacing anxiously as she held Ryou in her lap. "Updated blaster fire," Hiroshi muttered, brow creased. "It's worse than before."

Allura kept her hand over the one Ryou had on his wound and tore her eyes away from him for only a moment. "But you do have the tools necessary to heal him?" she demanded, sounding much shakier than she'd intended. All Hiroshi could give was a sad look and Allura bowed her head again. Faintly, she felt the sad rumble of Black along their link, the Lion's eyes still dull but already revived, as Hunk alternated between checking on her and letting the Lions be close to the quintessence.

"It's alright, princess," Ryou said, his breathing laboured. He reached up and stroked his thumb over her markings. "You're safe." His thumb dipped down, beyond the curve of her markings, as though he was tracing a familiar pattern. His lips formed one as he smiled. "Hers were different, though. Glowed more easily."

"Ryou," she murmured. She would never be able to repay him. Not in hope and not in—healing lessons. Clarity cut through the fog of her grief. She grabbed his hand and pried his fingers away. "Your time isn't finished yet," she said fiercely.

Ryou grunted. "Allura—"

She placed her hand over his wound, ignoring the stickiness of warm blood even through her glove, and let her suit channel the quintessence for her. She knew her helmet and such were turning from pink to black, too, as she poured her quintessence out and into him, flowing through her veins and fingertips. When she opened her eyes, her marks were blazing white, so were crescent curves under Ryou's eyes, his wound healing underneath her hand. Her tears turned to ones of joy as it closed entirely, each of their marks glowing as Ryou pushed himself up a little more. Allura wrapped her arms tightly around him, knowing each of them had given something special to the other. A second chance to save the one they'd lost. A successful one.

When she drew away, Ryou's marks had lost their glow, leaving only a pleasing purple, and he was grinning. "What did you do?" he asked in wonderment.

"I don't know," she admitted, shaking her head. Black's rumbles were somewhere behind her heartbeats. "I just—couldn't lose you."

And maybe that was all they needed.

It took another hour before Ezor yielded results.

"You're sure?" Acxa said, her breath stuttering in her chest. After six hundred years of searching, hoping, waiting... and this was where Merla had been hiding all this time? A place the general hadn't been since summer days and fields of flowers, rendezvous and promises. A place that had been safe until the exile and they'd all had to flee. Or had Merla only recently gone there, thinking it the last place anyone had looked? Acxa had scoured it immediately after the princess' disappearance, after Lotor had cut their ship's engines and kept her incapable of following, but... it was within reach. It was within hope.

Ezor crossed her arms impatiently over her chest. "Don't I look sure?" she pouted.

"You look stupid," Zethrid snickered. Ezor glared at her. "Beautifully stupid?"

Acxa rolled her eyes and glanced at Narti, who signed, "We must watch out for the orbit once we get there. Landing will be tricky."

Tricky yes, but worth it.

"It will be a good excuse to reserve our fuel," she said and turned Ezor back towards her holopad. "Ezor, set the coordinates. We'll be at the Phantom Moon soon enough."

Ryou had spent his whole life feeling some semblance of cold. A metallic spaceship full of refugees hurtling through space with no peace in sight was no place to grow up. Neither was a smugglers space station, yet here he was, a grown man and recently revived. Allura had let him go with little embarrassment so his crew could joyfully hug him in her stead and she'd gravitated back towards Hunk—a younger, happier, more anxious version of Tsuyoshi, if Ryou was being honest. They stood by their Lions, the princess wasting no time in transferring quintessence to them as well into their fuel systems ("We've put you in enough harm as is," she'd mumbled) her marks glowing too.

A universe where Voltron was real and found. Where he'd piloted the magnificent machine and being looming over him. Ryou could hardly believe it yet he did so anyway. If this universe had the Lions too, if they weren't just myth, if Rumiko had been right, then maybe they could have a fighting chance in this war. They could find the Lions and then the proper paladins. Assemble a sort of real resistance with something to rally behind.

Akira clapped him gently on the shoulder when he didn't break eye contact with the Black Lion. "You okay?" he asked.

Ryou shook himself out of it. The beast's eyes weren't even glowing, but it felt like they were following him somehow anyway. It was comforting rather than creepy. "Yeah," he said slowly, turning to the boy he'd adopted as a brother years ago. "Fine. Isamu plugged in the right coordinates?"

Akira nodded. They'd flown back to the place Allura and Hunk had been dropped as precisely as possible. From there they would use the piece of the comet the princess had and send the two paladins back home, and Ryou knew this time saying goodbye would be easy.

In the meantime, himself and the Lions were tended to. Hiroshi just wanted him to rest, the youngest team member's face pale underneath his freckles and still more worried about the whole thing than he let on, and Ryou listened mostly to make him feel better. They each asked Hunk questions about the Lions, too, fascinated by the answers of soul bonds and elemental powers.

"Only Lance has those so far," said Hunk—and yes, Lance was definitely a variation of Isamu, with that cocky grin and a sweeter side underneath—"But that's okay."

The princess rested too in one of the bunkers and Ryou wished they had something more than an old cot to offer, but she had no complaints, only gratitude to give when she came back to their main docking bay. She placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing carefully, before she rested her hand on her Lion's giant paw, and whispered something under her breath. The last of the quintessence had been drained and transferred, and when the Black Lion's eyes glowed bright, Ryou felt the light pierce his chest and awaken something in him, and knew Allura felt it too when she glanced back at him. Could it be...?

My father bound my life force to them.

And she had given a little of her life force to him.

"If you can feel her," Allura said, walking briskly towards him. "Then you can find her. And the others. She'll want to collect her pride."

A way to find Voltron. A way to fight back. As though enthused by their shared joy, he felt the faintest rumble prod at the back of his mind, and Allura's louder giggle ebbing and flowing in his mind, loud and real in his ear. Ryou beamed at her, picking her up into a spinning hug before setting her back down. This would change everything.

"Not bad, princess," he murmured fondly, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "Now let's get you home."

Lotor was a real pain in the ass, Keith decided, as Red whipped around to fire another laser, the sincline ship sleek and able to dodge with ease. Even with Lance's help and Coran's cover, he didn't know how much longer they could keep this all up. Themselves and the Lions only had so much energy and it felt like it had been forever, but every time Keith glanced at his timer he found only five minutes at most had passed since Allura and Hunk's horrible disappearance. Pidge had extracted one piece of the comet already, which would've been enough if things had gone according to plan.

Then he heard Coran yell over the commlink and Lance doubled back. "I think we need some fire power to bat the Blades," he said. "The castle's shields aren't gonna be enough."

Just great. Keith grit his teeth. "Then handle it! I'll keep—" Keith's grip on his controls almost went slack when there was a splitting, tearing noise and a blinding flash of light—and then the Black and Yellow Lions appeared out of thin air, claws clomping over the comet's surface and Black's coming away with a piece firmly clenched between her talons.

"Allura! Hunk!" Coran cried. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine, Coran," Allura's voice crackled over the commlink. She sounded tired but happy. "We'll explain what happened later—for now, we have our two pieces?"

"Aye aye princess," Pidge confirmed.

"Then let's get out of here!" Allura ordered to much cheering from all of them and whooping from Lance. "Coran, fly the castleship out of here! We'll meet you there, land, and I'll wormhole us out of here."

It was with a group sigh of relief they did just that.

Keith felt the adrenaline crash as he landed the Red Lion in her hanger and went to join everyone else in the command room. Their team was together and the mission was over. They were all safe and alive and had two pieces: one for Shiro, now, and another for his Uncle Thace to get Ulaz back, now that Allura and Hunk were back. Whatever fallout there would be from the Blades would be actually worth it. Plus, the Blades would have no problem destroying the comet now that Lotor was the only victim (who, if he was smart, would hightail it out of there) and Team Voltron had what they needed.

He was the first to arrive besides Allura and Coran and the princess wasn't looking at her holopads or even checking to make sure they had the comet, like he'd thought she would. One piece, a chunk of black rock that didn't look like anything special, lay on a counter in a containment unit by her chair, the other still in Pidge's personal one as they signed off and confirmed they were on their way up along with everyone else. Instead, Allura was turned towards the wide windows of the main deck, watching the stars.

Keith approached cautiously, peering over at her as he joined her side, and then at the stars. "Uh, princess? What are you doing?"

"Making a wish," she said happily. They waited a few moments before a shooting star streaked across the sky and she turned back to him. "Now, let's get down to business."

a/n: All the team's names, save Ryou, are taken from previous incarnations of Voltron. Rumiko Ukai voiced Fala (Allura's counterpart) in GoLion. Ryou Shirogane was Shiro's (/Sven's) younger brother in GoLion as well. next chapter should be the s3 finale. possibly a two parter but don't know yet. thanks for sticking with this story!