A/N: My slightly late contribution to Lance's birthday. There was a meteor shower on his birthday, how could I possibly not write about that? Anyway, thank you for showing enough interest in my summary to click on the story! Any comments and constructive criticism are always greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: Voltron: Legendary Defender and all of its characters belong to Dreamworks.

Lance loved Earth.

Despite being in a space exploration program, he loved the green grass, the dirt, and the little critters that lived in it he used to hunt down as a kid just as much as the stars that called to him. He loved to marvel at how an entirely different universe existed beneath the water. Heck, he even loved the mosquitoes, horseflies, and wasps that everyone else despised with a burning passion.

He loved the fluffy clouds; walking around on a windy scorching-hot day; getting up early and tip-toe out of the house to watch the sun rise above the sparkling water; The instinct that animals had to protect their offspring before anything else. He loved the swaying of trees within a slight breeze as though it were nature's way of saying hello, as well as getting soaked in the rain like his spirit was free to move playfully around and through the water-droplets.

In summary, he loved Earth. Every single aspect of it.

He loved walking barefoot on the beach with the water reaching just below his ankles. He loved complaining about how cold it was with his friends and family and bundling up like there was a snowstorm raging outside when really, it was about 20 degrees (C). He loved laughing at the obliviousness of the tourists to the slums and delinquency and politics. Main reason as to why they left in the first place.

The Castros had turned the home he loved so much into a corrupted communist nation, so when they immigrated, he was able to find new things to love about his new home like snow (something he had only ever seen on TV), and unpredictable weather, and laughing at American nationalism. He was going to be just fine.

He loved it all. And he missed it. So much that it was like a tether in his core was pulling him back, aching more and more the further he travelled.

Then there were the deeper things he loved about Earth. He loved how close his family became during immigration, the warmth laced within his grandmother's intricate dishes, every bruise he received while playing with his brothers and sisters, his mom's hugs, as much as his family's little tendency to just be outside whenever it rained and the refusal to go back inside. Everyone had learned to never track water in the house.

Lance laughed, refusing to cry in the process as he left Blue's cockpit with a knot in his stomach. It's only natural to be even slightly nervous for an occasion like this one.

The Castle of Lions had stayed outside the solar system they were approaching just in case, and the lions zoomed past the nine planets that started it all, laughter resounding from the comms from the excitement of the paladins for this next planet they were going to.

They were headed for Earth. They were going home.

They had agreed to part ways for the day and meet back at the castle in twenty-four hours. Then they had to go. The universe wasn't going to defend itself and they were still in the middle of a war.

There was no evidence of the Blue Lion's presence except for the displaced clouds in the sky. He activated the cloaking device for Blue that Pidge had installed in all the lions, and step by step, he walked up the three steps to the front porch of his house, and tentatively rang the doorbell.

He was this close to hyperventilating right there during his wait that lasted all of twenty seconds but felt more like twenty years to him.

The door opened and it was none other than his mother on the other side, talking to someone behind her.

"Pero bueno mijo, ya esta. Ya voy dame un momento para atender-"(1)

She had fully turned around by then and froze with the most astounded look on her face he'd ever seen, even through the tears, he could tell she didn't quite believe it.

She stayed like that for a while, looking at him all over before reaching up to touch his face. To prove he's really here.

"Lance?" she whispered, now with tears to match his. He nodded with a smile breaking on his face as they simultaneously reached for each other. The pair stayed there for long enough for the man she had been sending off earlier to come looking for his mother and find her at the door, hugging what was supposed to be the ghost of his little brother as both of them cried, reassuring the other that this wasn't a cruel joke. He stopped in his tracks, dropped the book he was holding, and that was what brought them out of their stupor.

And then people just kept coming and coming until he was at the center of a hug-fest.

In short, the rest of the day was spent catching up with family, catching Lance up on everything that happened with such detail that he felt like he'd been there. From every loose tooth to graduations and weddings taking place.

All of this love he was ambushed with wasn't as overwhelming as it should have been, because he missed it. He missed it and finally the tether had been returned to its origin and the ache within his chest was now a swelling heart that made itself known through the various tears of happiness shed from everyone. Then a little voice gasped. Everyone turned around and noticed that what little Rosita held in her hand was a calendar.

"It's Tio Lance's birthday today!"

After a moment of silence and Lance's quick though of "it is?" as he had no way of telling time on the ship, cue an eruption of gasping, cheering, and the hoisting of Lance up on two of his older brothers' shoulders. Record time was made to put the party together. There was food, music, cake, and dancing (and oh how he missed the dancing. He loved his Space Family to bits, but he accepted the fact a long time ago: no one on his team could salsa or tango like his family). Their faces hurt from smiling and their stomachs hurt from laughing.

Then came the dreaded time to tell his family that he had to leave in the morning... and explain - very vaguely to avoid one of them handcuffing him to a tree in concern for his safety - that they had to protect the universe.

He knew he couldn't let everyone stay focused on the end when the night was still young, so an idea occurred to him under the pretext of bonding with the nieces and nephews that didn't quite remember him, but he knew everyone would want to join in.

"Hey guys, y'know know what'd be crazy fun?" with these words, he had all the kids paying attention, "a pillow fort," and no sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the children (and various teenagers and adults) whooped and turned the living room into a plush palace in which they all talked, snacked, shared stories, laughed so hard someone almost peed, and eventually fell asleep at the end of the night.

Morning eventually came and he knew he couldn't leave without introducing his mother to his favourite girl. So after breakfast, with two hours until he had to go, he walked his mother out to where he'd parked Blue and deactivated the cloaking device.

There was a mixture of phrases and questions uttered by his mother, but the most emphasized was "You keep my son safe, you hear me? Else you'll be defending yourself from me." The truest mother-in-law for his love even after explaining Blue's powers. He could feel Blue affectionately purring in the back of his mind, happy that the two most important women in his life were getting along.

After getting back to the group, Lance gathered them all for the most squished-up selfie in the history of the universe. More tears and hugs were exchanged by the time those two hours were coming to a close, which was completely expected despite everyone outspokenly refusing to cry (none of them believed it anyway).

Though Lance said one last thing before he left, and made sure to put extra emphasis on it through his tears.

"I'll be back soon. Don't forget to check the sky tonight, okay?" no one protested.

That night, the entirety of Lance's family was gathered outside on the porch.

They saw the meteor shower.

They saw it and they knew which star he was even before they saw it.

The single blue shooting star that appeared and disappeared in a flash.

It was a promise. He was coming back.

Even after all the stars and planets and species and adventures (and misadventures) and people he's met in other planets, Lance still loved Earth the most. His heart was bound to it whether he liked it or not; and he didn't like it. He loved it.

A/N: That was really fun to write in all honesty. Yay! You made it to the end! I'm real happy about that! Like I said, see that little box down below that says "review"? I'm just going to leave that there. Y'all keep writing and being awesome!

Translation:

(1): "Alright, that's fine, son. Hold on, let me get the-"

Thanks for sticking around!

rainbowrider1290