Chapter 1 – As we walk away

"Do you think they're alright?" Lance said, staring at the empty wide space that spread behind the window of the ship.

Coran glanced at him, quiet.

"I'm sure they are." the ginger haired man responded after a long pause, eyes locked on the blue paladin. He had never seen him being this fragile, nostalgic. Even if they all complained about Lance being so loud every time he spoke, they all loved that side of him, and having him standing this defenceless awoke some paternal feelings in Coran. He sat near the young man without looking at him.

"Tell me what is so amazing about Earth."

Stars lit up in Lance's eyes as he thought about his home planet, about his family. He missed the water, he missed the lakes, the sea, the rain… but above all, he missed the sweet warmth of his mother's arms around him, the sticky hands of his nephew and niece on his skin, and the amused smile of his father whenever he did something wrong. All he could do was hope that they were fine and that they didn't miss him as much as he missed them.

Lance sighed, the blanket wrapped around him like when he was a child. He looked out of the window and watched the rain as it fell loudly on the glass. A cough tickled his throat and he pulled out an arm, seeking for a glass of water on his bedside table.

It had already been one week since he finally got back home, and a part of him still didn't realise it yet. He had gone through so much in only a few months –or was it years? He couldn't be sure, really.

Only a month ago, the Voltron team had finally defeated Zarkon, liberating the entire universe at the same time. All was well that ended well. Despite everything, Lance felt empty, almost sad. Something wasn't right and he definitely knew what…

"Guys… We did it… We did it…" Keith didn't stop repeating, completely stunned.

"We got that, Keith! We were there too!" the blue paladin laughed, a wide grin on his lips and an arm around the other man's shoulders. Once again, Keith was too shocked to even notice it.

"I can't believe we did it..." Hunk added in a weak tone. "We saved the whole universe… Everybody's safe, now!"

"Just say that Shay is safe, now." Lance smirked again, finally letting go of Keith to go bother his best friend. His smile hadn't faded since the moment they saw the Galra ship explode and Allura told that them no energy trace remained.

The yellow paladin blushed a bit, but he was so happy he didn't even care about appearances. He wanted to shout his joy out loud, and that's exactly what he did. Right in Lance's ears, obviously, just before hugging him so tight Lance could barely breathe. If Zarkon hadn't managed to kill him, Lance was certain Hunk was about to put an end to him here and now if he didn't stop crushing him.

In a corner of the room, Pidge was crying in a man's arms. She had finally managed to save her father and her brother and couldn't keep her emotions to herself anymore. A hand on her shoulder, Shiro was talking with them, tears in the corners of his eyes. It had been so long…

Allura was crying too, going from one paladin to another to congratulate them again and again. Coran decided to make a huge feast to celebrate and he went to the kitchen, quickly followed by a worried Hunk – food was sacred, after all!

As Lance straightened himself up, he looked at all his friends around him. They spent so much time together they were all like a family to him – yes, even the annoying one with the mullet. And a new thought suddenly occurred to him, his smile fading away as he realised. Now that the world was finally at peace, the universe wouldn't need Voltron anymore. They wouldn't need to stay together anymore.

His eyes lingered on Allura's smiling face bathed with tears. He would miss her so much it was killing him just to think of it. The crush he had on her at first was gone but he was definitely attached to her. The bond every one of them had developed with each other was something he couldn't put into words. The only one he was sure he would see again was Hunk. Or at least he hoped so… Hunk wouldn't do that to him, right? Not him, his best friend? But then, there was Shay, who Lance knew Hunk had fallen in love with.

His heart clenched in his chest, and in the middle of these people he knew more than anyone, in the middle of these friends of him, he suddenly felt so alone.

A red figure passed him and he watched Keith going to lean against a wall. His gaze was fixed on someone – Shiro – and his eyebrows furrowed as his face slowly seemed to sadden. He met Lance's eyes and they both knew they were thinking about the same thing. They were two faces of the same coin: different, opposed, but made from the same metal.

Lance suddenly felt the vital need to offer Keith a place back home with him. The boy was an orphan and he probably didn't have any place left to live. However, Lance didn't move, stuck in deep thoughts and torment.

"Guys, I've come up with an idea…" Pidge said hesitantly while they ate the meal prepared by Hunk and Coran. She spoke without the natural self-assurance she usually had when unveiling her new inventions and it tickled everyone's curiosity. "I thought that, now that we've defeated Emperor Zarkon and the threats on the universe gone, our team will surely split up, and-" she paused to clear her throat and no one dared to look at her face. Suddenly, they all were very busy with the green jelly that moved awkwardly in their plates. "And I thought maybe we could… maybe some of us would like to keep in touch… ?"

Her voice raised a bit at the end of her sentence, marking what sounded like a question.

Shiro was the first to talk. "Of course, Pidge. I take it you've figured out a way to allow that?"

She smiled at him, a bit reassured. "Yup. I'll need your phones, I have to upgrade them with a little gadget of mine. Coran helped me to get them to work." she added, and the Altean quickly wiped away a tear that ran down his cheek.

"I will miss you so much, guys!" Allura burst into tears, hiding her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Shiro immediately stood up from his chair and froze when he saw that everyone was looking at him. Matt's eyes were going from him to Allura and back to him, and a knowing look slowly painted on his face.

"I-… I'll stay with you on the ship, if you allow me to." Shiro bravely declared, his voice lower than normal. "I need to grow the bond between my Lion and I, even if there is no other threat... yet."

"Really?" the Princess sobbed with relief, still shaking even if a smile was blooming on her lips.

Coran let out a relieved sigh and glanced at the leader of Team Voltron, mouthing a "thank you" that made Shiro's cheeks go an even deeper shade of red.

At this moment, Lance let out a scream: "Blue!" and he ran straight to where his Lion was.

" I… I hadn't thought about that" Pidge admitted, a concerned look on her face. "What will become of our lions?"

"We will keep them here, safe and ready to go if necessary" Coran assured. "Even if I hope you'll never have to form Voltron again."

"Sure... We all do."

The last voice was Keith's, sounding completely unconvincing. He would never admit it, but he actually felt sad at the prospect of never forming Voltron again. It meant never bonding with the others again, and so never being this close to someone else again. Even if Keith was kind of a lone wolf, he truly cared for those intense moments when all five of them combined their minds and souls to form one entity. He didn't even know what he was going to do. The paladin of the red Lion didn't feel like coming back to Earth. He had no one to wait for him and he had nothing left to do there. Actually, he had nothing left to do anywhere in the universe. He glanced at Pidge who was teasing her brother under the soft look of their father, then he looked at Shiro, who couldn't untie his gaze from Allura who was enthusiastically talking with Coran, already making plans for the future of the legacy of Altea and Voltron. When he turned to give him a look, Keith found that Hunk had disappeared, and he felt the sudden need to go and see his Lion too. He had already thought about taking Red with him to explore new planets while searching for his parents but he wasn't sure about this decision yet.

Slowly, the half-Galra walked away from his friends to join his Lion in a quiet, solemn atmosphere. He stood in front of Red for a few minutes, eyes closed as he focused on the connection between the robot-animal and himself. "I promise I will never let you down, Red. I'll come back to you."

He bit his tongue, expecting to hear Lance's mocking voice telling him to stop flirting with his Lion, but nothing came, only silence. He opened his eyes in surprise, one eyebrow raised. He seemed to be alone. Blue was resting near by, with the other Lions, and there was no trace of the two missing paladins.

"Don't worry, Blue, you'll see him again. He's just... sad." Hunk's voice said weakly, pain and sadness making his voice vibrate.

Hunk was actually sitting on the floor between his Lion's paws. Keith decided to leave him alone. So, Lance wasn't anywhere to be seen. Was he ever even there?

If he wasn't here with his Lion, there were only a few places where the sharpshooter could be, and the red paladin went to check them all. He needed to know that Lance was okay. He had always been the most carefree of the group, always making bad puns and giving Keith a reason to laugh at him. If Lance wasn't fine, then nothing was fine. Even if the latter thought of him as a rival, Lance had always been the one to cool down Keith's impulsive temper. It was so easy for him to bond with people just with a few words, to make them feel at ease -or not at all- and to be the center of attention. For all these reasons, Keith envied him, and that was why he couldn't allow him to be sad. Or at least, not alone. Keith was a lonely kind of person, Lance wasn't, he needed friends to be around him. It made him feel alive, Keith knew that.

There were at least three places where he knew he could find Lance: his bedroom, the bridge of the ship or the swimming pool. Knowing him, Keith headed in the direction of the swimming pool first. Lance always seemed to feel better when he had water near him. It had always been his element.

When he entered the room, a wave of relief washed over the pale skinned boy as he saw his friend. He was looking up to the swimming pool that floated above his head.

"You won't be able to swim there, you know." Keith said in a sarcastic tone. "Just wait until you're home."

Right. Good job, Keith. That's exactly what he needed to hear! How come he was so bad at helping people?!

Lance glared at him, tears in the corners of his eyes. Keith froze, not daring to move. After a while, he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"You don't want Pidge to upgrade your phone?" The red paladin eventually asked after clearing his throat twice or thrice.

His voice was calm and almost monotone. He knew the vision of Lance crying was going to haunt him for months. That was something he never wanted to see again – and something he knew would happen again really soon.

"I guess so…" Lance answered after a silence that seemed to last hours.

He took a few minutes to gather his thoughts and wipe the tears off his cheeks. Then, he left the room without a look to Keith who stood still, eyes on him.

Sure, Keith, you're not stupid at all. You just made him sad AND angry when he was only sad to start with. Good job, someone should give you a medal!

"Hey, Pidge! I've heard you needed my phone! Don't hesitate to put the numbers of any cute girls you know too if you want!" Lance declared, grinning.

The girl rolled her eyes and took the device. She started to dismantle it and began soldering something on the side. Lance watched her a few seconds before deciding to take a chair to rest. He put his feet on the table near her and gazed at the ceiling.

It was way too quiet for Lance and Pidge stopped her tinkering to give him a look but he didn't even remark. She got back to the phone improvement and spoke in a nonchalant tone

"Aren't you happy to see your family soon?"

The boy blinked a few times unhearing, before turning his gaze to the green paladin.

"Sorry, you said something?"

"I was saying you must be happy to see your family soon." Pidge repeated, eyes resolutely focused on her task.

"Hmhm, sure, I am."

Again, Pidge stopped what she was doing to observe him. "It's not like you to be so quiet, Lance" she pointed out. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He let out a sigh and his blue eyes met her hazel gaze. "Okay, right, you got me, there. I may not be so fine!" he admitted, throwing his arms up in the air and almost falling from the chair.

"Oh, I would never have guessed!" Pidge mocked. "So, what's the matter?" she asked more kindly, already knowing the answer.

"It's hard to explain… I mean, sure, the world is at peace, we're freaking heroes, and that's so cool! And we're eventually going home, on Earth, and I'll see my family, and it's true that I miss them so much, but…"

"But you're afraid to lose this." She affirmed, gesturing to the space around her to represent the castle, Voltron, their adventure. "I think I know that feeling. I'm glad to have found Matt and Dad, don't get me wrong, but at the same time… I'll miss you, guys…"

She put her screwdriver on the table to wipe away tears.

"It was really a great adventure." She concluded, the reflection of her glasses hiding her eyes.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and raised her head.

"We'll meet again, I'm sure." Lance assured, struggling against the strong need to hug her so he wouldn't break the phone. "And it'll be thanks to you, Pidge."

"Don't forget Coran" she replied, a smile in her voice.

"Okay, right. Thanks to you and Coran, but not thanks to his food!"

They both started to laugh, letting go of the pain and stress in a much needed joyful moment. Not far from where they were, in the corridor, Coran was smiling too. The paladins were all like a family to him and it was painful to think these were the last moments they would spend together, but he had the feeling they would see each other again. All he could hope was that it would be to celebrate something and not because of some new enemies threatening the peace in the universe.

Several hours passed, then days, and the paladins could feel the incoming proximity of their home planet. They tried to act like they used to, they laughed, they fought, but their hearts weren't in it. Every gaze they shares was tinted with sadness.

They were all playing a card game –Pidge was winning, even if they all suspected she was cheating, when Allura called them to come to the bridge. When they arrived, they stopped abruptly eyes on the blue sphere floating behind the glass.

This was the very first time the crew saw Earth from space. The view was stunningly beautiful and shocking at the same time. That was the exact moment when the reality of this whole adventure hit them. They never realised how far from their birth planet they had been, or how long their trip had lasted. What did their families think? Did they think they were dead? What did the Garrison tell them?

Lance silently approached the window and pressed his hand flat on the glass. He felt so weak he needed to let his forehead rest against the glass, and the void seemed to suck him in.

"We… we're coming home…" Lance murmured. He shed a tear, struggling against the gross sobs that threatened to overcome him. When he finally dared to look at the others, they were all sitting in front of the window, quiet. Samuel Holt was hugging both his children, focused on Earth, he imagined being where his wife was. Pidge and Matt were holding hands and it looked like they had stopped breathing.

Shiro was lost deep in thoughts. Near him, Hunk was sporting a brilliant smile. He was looking as if he was gonna explode, and he didn't know himself if he was going to laugh or cry. Probably both. He turned to Lance and met his confused gaze, Hunk's smile changed into an interrogative grimace.

The blue paladin looked at the two Alteans that were remaining on the sidelines. Allura felt so relieved for her friends and Coran was looking at them tenderly.

From where he stood, Lance was feeling like a stranger to the scene. He took notice of the fact that not all of them were coming home. Only three of the paladins were. Four if he counted Shiro, but as he had planned to stay on the ship…

Hunk and Lance had their family on Earth and the Holts had their mom and wife. Shiro and Keith, as for them, weren't going anywhere.

Keith… Where was he again?

"Hey, does anyone know where Keith is?" the sharpshooter asked around.

The question brought life to the crew and several of them blinked a few times before understanding Lance's calling.

"He was just behind me a few doboshes ago" Shiro declared, confused.

"I'll go and find him." The blue paladin declared while rising from the floor.

When he left the room, the others looked at each other. Hunk was the one to say out loud what they were all thinking.

"Do you guys think they're okay?..."

"I knew I would find you here."

Keith started and gave a quick look to the doorway where Lance was standing. He turned back to his fight, but the few ticks that the Cuban distracted for him were enough for the robot to kick the red paladin's sword away.

"End training sequence!" Keith shouted in anger. "Fuck, Lance! That's your fault!"

"It's nice to see you too, Keith." The other responded, bitter.

"Can't you just leave me alone for once?!" Mullet boy screamed again, coming closer to his teammate with a dangerous light dancing in his eyes.

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to be alone in a few hours" Lance slowly told without wavering. He took his time to sit on the floor, not impressed in the least.

All of Keith's being wanted to punch Lance's obnoxious face but he miraculously managed to restrain himself. He took several deep breaths before glancing at the other again.

"What do you want, Lance?"

The only answer he got was silence, and an ocean blue gaze stuck in his own.

"What are you going to do?" the tanned skinned man finally spoke up, so serious it made Keith frown.

He hesitated, not sure what to answer. He would have enjoyed staying in the castle but he knew he would feel like he was playing gooseberry with Shiro and Allura. He would never admit it but seeing Shiro giving this much attention to Allura did hurt him. Maybe he was jealous, and that only thought made him even more furious at himself. He clenched his fists until his knuckles were white.

"You're not coming back on Earth, are you?" Lance continued when he understood Keith wasn't going to speak.

"What would I do there?" the red paladin finally uttered. "I'd better look for my family."

"Keith," his friend started.

Lance stopped. He couldn't argue. He knew the feeling of missing his family, and even if Keith had almost no memories of his, he guessed the red paladin wanted to know who they were and what became of them.

Nevertheless, he wanted to help him, and letting him stay alone in space wouldn't be a good way to do it.

"Keith, listen. Come with me on Earth! We'll welcome you as a family member, I promise. I know it's not the same and you prefer being on your own but I don't want you to wander off alone in space and, quiznack, Keith, I don't want—" Lance declared hurriedly as he grasped Keith's arm.

He could have continued like that for a while without even breathing but a violent tremor interrupted him and both of them fell on the floor when the castle braked to land. They slipped to the other side of the room and hit the wall hard with a muffled sound.

"You okay?" Keith grumbled when he managed to get up.

"I think my nose's broken and I'm blind but yeah. You?" the other stated as he tried to lean against the wall.

The red paladin quickly gave him a look. He rolled his eyes when he saw the hoodie that was blindfolding Lance and a discreet smile of relief bloomed on his lips.

"I'm fine, and I think you're home, Lance."

The blue eyed man let out a melancholic sigh and they both moved to join the others in the cockpit, walking in a gloomy silence.

They walked out of the ship all together and the grass and the sky reminded Coran and Allura of Altea. The princess kneeled in the middle of the field before them to pick a flower that looked like her mom's favourite.

"Coran! Look! It looks exactly like the species we have on Altea!" she called enthusiastically.

He took the little flower with slight caution, but his eyes were shining. He brought it closer to his face. It was bright pink and so light the wind threatened to take it away with each blow. The smell was sweet and brought the Alteans a flow of old memories.

"It even has the same perfume than ours," he agreed with nostalgia.

He briefly held the plant against his heart before giving it back to Allura.

Behind them, the paladins were walking gingerly, dazzled by the sunlight. The Holt family was smiling happily.

"I had forgotten what the sky looked like down here," Shiro said in a weak tone, his gaze focused on the fluffy clouds that were slowly passing by.

"Feel free to stay here if you change your mind." the Altean princess instantly offered him. "I won't blame you if you do."

"Why don't you two stay here?" Hunk genuinely suggested to both Coran and Allura. "If this place is so much like your home planet, you're most likely going to love living here. And I think our food is better, too."

"We can't, we still have so much to do. The war might be over, but we still have a lot of work to keep the universe in a better place. We need not to repeat our past mistakes." The Altean woman explained with a concerned look. "I'm sorry, paladins."

"So, it's over, now?" Lance finally spoke up, avoiding everyone's gaze.

The way he said it sounded like a breakup, and it could have been funny if the team wasn't feeling exactly the same way.

"It was nice having you all by my side" he added in a blow.

His gaze drifted to the castle where he knew his Lion was and he swallowed with difficulty.

"Guys, I've an idea!" Pidge exclaimed in an attempt to lighten up the atmosphere.

Her brother looked like he was going to make a sarcastic comment but she hushed him.

"Let's take photos together! I'll send them to you all when I'm home!"

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Keith granted.

"Because you doubted it would be?" Pidge dared him.

"We'll keep them on board," Allura cheered to avoid them fighting. "And we'll prepare a room with all our memories of these moments!"

The idea seemed to delight the crew and they immediately started taking pictures. Lance was particularly dedicated to making derp faces and to photobomb the others' photos, and they were all glad to see him being himself again. The photoshoot ended when a fight over who was the most photogenic broke out, Lance and Matt both arguing they obviously were.

"Stop it, now! It's too childlish for the people who saved the universe to fight over something like this!" Shiro declared in his dad voice. "And we all know the most photogenic guy out of all of us is me."

"Whaaaat?!" Matt and Lance yelled in unison.

They spent the whole day like this, taking photos, selfies and pictures that were supposed to never leave their friend circle – and they all knew the green paladin would put them online as soon as possible.

The clouds were red when they stopped and for a few minutes they looked at each other with bliss. The silence came, heavy, and Hunk was the first to burst into tears. He sobbed loudly and hugged every one of them, including Pidge's dad who didn't know how to react.

"Hey, Shiro. You better send us messages," Matt ordered the black paladin, a slight smile on his face.

"Don't worry, I won't forget you now that you're back and safe."

Behind him, Keith was looking away, already wanting to go back to his Lion. That was the only place he felt secure, and he knew he could rely on Red to never let him fall.

"Keith, what have you got planned?"

The teenager raised his head to look at his team leader, surprised.

"I don't really know, I think I'll just go and look for my family."

Shiro frowned and granted him a concerned look before relaxing.

"Stay with us for a while, we'll do our best to help" the older man smiled.

It wasn't even a suggestion, it was already a fact. The red paladin seemed to unwind a bit and he was considering spending more time with them than previously scheduled. He met Lance's gaze but the latter quickly looked away. With a sigh, Keith approached him and sat beside him. Maybe this time he would succeed in helping him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as softly as possible.

He rapidly looked for Hunk's position in the likely case he would worsen the situation. The big man was now crying in Coran's arms and Allura was busy comforting him.

"I think I'll miss our moments. And Voltron. And everybody. I will probably end up missing you too, actually," Lance let out with a weak smile.

"Wow, me too, you sure?" Keith laughed slightly. "It's such an honour!... Hey, lighten up, Lance, it's not like you to be so down. In a few hours you'll see your family again!"

"If I survive tomorrow, I'll check if Pidge's phone improvement works."

"If you survive tomorrow?" the half-Galra questioned.

"You don't know my mom," Lance laughed sincerely, and the sound was music to Keith's ears. "I don't know how much time we've spent up there but she'll yell at me and she'll probably break my bones hugging me at the same time!"

He gave a peaceful glimpse to the swordfighter before he spoke again: "You really don't want to come with me?"

"Thanks but I'll pass," Keith refused with a mirthless smile. "I'm not the best at bonding with people, I'd bother you."

"Yet I thought you were doing quite a good job with us..."

The voice wasn't higher than a whisper and Keith never knew if he had imagined it or if Lance had actually spoken. They stayed like that for some more time before Lance stood up to stretch.

The ship had landed in a desert landscape in Cuba, making it easier for him to go home. They had decided to do it this way so that Lance could get home easily and Hunk and the Holts could go to the airport together.

The five of them bid farewell to their friends, knots in their stomachs and they started to walk away. Lance had promised himself he wouldn't look back, it would have made it even worse for him. He hugged Hunk briefly, struggling against the tears that threatened to drop. Then he turned to Pidge, who jumped into his arms and almost made him fall. He heard the laughs of Coran, Allura, Shiro and Keith who were still outside, looking at them all. Watching over them all. Once again he was trying to keep himself from crying his eyes out.

When they all realised they couldn't put it off any longer, Lance parted from the group as bravely as he could and started to walk away into the night, all alone, aiming for the nearest station. At least he wasn't far from home. He was only a hundred meters further when he heard it.

He looked back to the castle that was rumbling. Five bolts flew out and the Lions landed just in front of the ship, sat in a line.

Lance focused his gaze on Blue, feeling her attention on him.

Tears made their way to the ground. Lance was frozen, unable to move a single finger.

The Lions raised their heads in unison and let out a powerful, heartbreaking roar. It was more than what Lance was able to stand. He fled. He ran with all the energy he still had, he ran until Blue couldn't see him anymore, he ran until he was out of breath. When he could finally see the lights of the station in front of him, they were all blurred by the tears overflowing his eyes. The sound of Blue's roar was ingrained in his memory and he doubted he would ever forget it.